


America's Most Dangerous Antiques Roadshow

by WhiskeyAdams



Series: America's Most Dangerous Antiques Roadshow [1]
Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-11 14:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 65,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1174112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiskeyAdams/pseuds/WhiskeyAdams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College AU. Our five agents all attend the same college, they all meet when an artifact ends up on campus, after handling it on their own, they begin to wonder if other such objects exist, and consider if they should track them down before they hurt anyone. The current Warehouse takes notice of the young philanthropists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Impressions

_“I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions…”_

_-Malcom X_

College: where you spend four or more years and thousands of dollars you don’t have for a degree you most likely won’t end up using. They don’t warn you in high school that you’ll be on your own, fighting to keep your spot in an over-crowded class that you ultimately get cut from only to have half the students drop before the midterm. They don’t warn you about the stress of finals or how you suddenly become solely responsible for your well-being.

Maybe it wouldn’t matter if they did, because we’ve lived the last four years in a school we couldn’t stand with people we hate in hopes of being able to leave your home town and study whatever we want, experiment and have fun and create new memories.

Yeah, maybe college would be perfect, if not for the constant fear of failing, because as far as Myka Bering could tell, there was always some midterm or final to study for, some fourteen page paper on the history of the paper clip that needed to be in APA format with thirty sources due in the morning when it felt like the professor just brought it up the day before.

She had a type a personality, and the thought of having to go home because she couldn’t pass a class, having to explain to her perpetually disappointed father that she had failed, see that look in his eye as she let him down again, that thought kept her studying for long hours every night, double checking and triple checking every assignment, reading the text book three chapters in advance.

This annoyed her best friend and roommate, Pete Lattimer to no end. She was the one who convinced him to attend college in the first place, and now she never had the time to hang out with her. The only time he saw her was on the car ride to school in the morning to the campus, and at dinner. He had gotten lucky the last two semesters and they ended up in the same Criminology classes together, but even then, she took meticulous notes and shushed him when he tried to talk to her.

Pete had no trouble making friends, easy going, quick to smile and an all-around good guy, and this was proved his first semester of college when he met Steve Jinks.

They sat near each other in all three Crim classes they shared, each picking the same seat every hour. Pete had this uncanny ability. He got feelings, he called them vibes while Myka called it bullshit conjecture, about situations and people. So when Steve entered the class room the first day of Crim 101, Pete took notice of him, and was genuinely happy he decided to sit one chair over from him. He was quiet and reserved, but smart and quick to answer any questions Professor Taylor tried to trip them up with.

So one day, when Steve was ten minutes late, Pete got a vibe. It wasn’t overly bad, he figured, nothing really to panic about, but he felt obligated to act on it. So he stopped Steve after class and started talking to him, asking if everything was all right because Steve looked as if he was trying to decide whether he wanted to hit something or cry.

It turned out that Steve’s boyfriend, a junior named Liam Napier, who was also a Criminology major, had ended things with him. He hadn’t given a reason, but Steve noted that Liam had seemed distant the last few weeks, and Steve suspected cheating.

Pete felt bad for the guy, just before starting college, his long-time girlfriend had ended things without giving him a reason as to why. So, he invited Steve to meet him and his best friend up for lunch after his noon class.

When Pete told Myka he had a friend from class who was tagging along with him, she accused Pete of trying to set her up with one of his friends again.

“Please, Myka.” he rolled his eyes, trying not to smile, “Steve just broke up with his boyfriend, I’m sure he’s not ready to start looking again.”

The look on Myka's face was priceless, and Pete had wished he had a camera so he could remember it better. He and Myka differed in many ways; a photographic memory was one of the things she had and he didn't.

He was glad when Myka and Steve seemed to hit it off quickly. Myka wasn’t a people person, relating better to men who had been dead for a century than the people trying to talk to her in real life. But, Pete supposed, that was bound to happen with someone like Myka. Intelligent, head strong, and a bibliophile, but incredibly shy and unsure of herself.

That was nearly a year and a half ago. Now they all split the rent on a three bedroom apartment that was a reasonable distance from the campus. Myka and Pete bickered like siblings and Steve often played as referee, but they all enjoyed it immensely.

But that wasn’t the point, the point was Pete missed his best friend. And he was going to get her out of her room tonight if it was the last thing he did. It was the Friday before midterm week, and he knew several floor parties going on simultaneously on the campus that evening, and he had convinced Steve to go with him, stating it had been over a year and he really needed to start playing the field again. Now he just had to get Myka to agree.

Ten miles away in the dorms, Claudia Donovan was having much the same issue with her dorm mate.

She was begging that she leave the room for one night and just have fun with her, to stop reading and writing so much, complaining that she lived too much in her head for her own good.

“HG,” she exasperated, “Please, I am begging you, this week has been hell on my nerves and I just want to go out there and have fun.”

Helena Wells turned in her office chair, away from the mess of wires and chips that looked as if they had been ripped apart by wild animals, to stare at her roommate and closest friend, “Claudia, you act as if this shin dig isn’t in our dormitory. You can walk out the door and be bombarded by all the ruckus and alcohol you wish. So, why then, must I accompany you?”

“Because,” the red head rolled her eyes, “You’re my wingman-er woman.” Claudia shook her head, “Anyway, you’re supposed to hit on the hot guy so I can get at his desperate friend.”

“Why you set your standards so low is beyond me,” HG mumbled before turning back to her current pet project.

Helena was a tinkerer, that much Claudia discovered their first semester living together. It had caught her off guard when she first met her. There weren’t many Engineering majors who were girls, so they ended up assigned to the same dorm room. The woman was gorgeous, not that Claudia swung that way but damn if Helena Wells did not make her question it a little bit, and female engineering students were rare enough, but an unbelievably hot female engineering student had thrown Claudia for a loop.

“Hello,” HG had greeted with an extended hand and a lilting English accent, “I’m Helena Wells, and you must be Claudia.” She smiled.

“Uh,” Claudia racked her brain for the proper response and finally after a long awkward second, she gripped the Brit’s hand in her own, feeling the familiar calluses of an inventor on her fingertips, “Yeah, yes, I am Claudia Donovan, I’m an Engineering Major.” She left out the bit that she was actually double majored in Computer Sciences as well, not wanting to sound like a total geek on her first impression to the intimidating woman.

“Aces,” Helena’s smile widened on the news, “I too will be studying engineering. I fancy myself an inventor, and thought it would be best to stick to what I know.”

They talked as they set up their shared space, and for a long time after. Discussing ideas they’d had to create new things, to improve old things. Theoretical applications for things they didn’t even have the technology to invent yet, and how they could go about inventing said technology.

Each woman was secretly thrilled to finally have someone they could talk to about all the things that went through their minds at a million miles an hour without having to dumb it down, or worry about the glazed look appearing in the other person’s eye because they couldn’t give a shit about what you were saying.

Their first winter living in the dorms, they were one of the few who had stayed during the three week hiatus. The administration only allowing them to do so because, well Claudia didn’t have a home to return to, and Helena’s home was in London. When their radiator broke, and left them shivering in layers, there was no one around to fix it, so HG and Claudia did it themselves.

“It’s not supposed to get this cold in California,” Claudia complained as she passed Helena the tool she requested with a shivering hand.

“We are at a higher elevation, my dear,” she said before putting the screwdriver in her mouth to free up her hands, “Cold, and yes even snow, is to be expected.” She mumbled around the obstruction.

Claudia’s grumbling turned to a squeal of delight as the radiator kicked on and warm air began to wash over her.

It was after that one of them had the great idea to fix things for their fellow students at a fairer price than the computer stores in town. After a few fixed laptops that ran faster and better than new, more and more students, and even some of the college admin, began coming to them to fix different things. Everything from computers, cellphones and projectors to the washing machine in the basement of the dormitory. Their business was quite popular with the co-ed’s, even more so around midterms and finals weeks.

They made enough money that, when their freshman year ended as well as the extent of Claudia’s scholarship, they were able to keep her in school. Helena insisted on helping pay for her schooling.

“With a mind like yours,” she explained, “It would be criminal not to have you working towards your full potential.”

They became very close to one another, working hard to be sure they were placed in the same dorm their second year of college. But Claudia knew there were things Helena kept hidden from her. She could see it in the moments HG thought she wasn’t looking. Helena’s eyes would become unfocused, and a look of pure sadness or darkness would wash over her.

Claudia didn’t pester her about it though, she figured it wasn’t her place to ask and HG would share with her if and when she felt like it.

With midterms around the corner, even though she and Helena never really had to study very hard, she knew they would soon be busy with a bunch of crashed computers and recovering lost files. She needed to blow off steam before the impending increase in pressure. And Helena’s distance had seemed to increase since the spring semester started, it worried Claudia and she wanted her to come enjoy the evening with her.

“I like to keep my standards low,” Claudia huffed as she moved to spin the Brit back around, “because I found it decreases my chances of striking out.”

If Claudia were honest with herself, she did it because flirting was awkward and hard for her. She never really had a boyfriend, and desperate boys were more generous with their complements which resulted in a self-esteem boost for the redhead without him actually expecting her to put out.

HG looked into her friend’s pleading eyes, and Claudia could see the moment she had won, “Fine, if I say I shall accompany you this evening, will you let me finish this rebuild in peace?”

Claudia kept her stern, bargaining face intact for a few more moments, “Only if you agree to help me get all dressed up and you do the same.”

HG threw her head back with a groan, “Why? Half the people in this building see us before we have a chance to get out of our pajamas and brush our teeth.”

“Because,” Claudia smiled innocently, “Dressing up is half the fun. Come on HG.” Claudia stuck her lower lip out.

Helena kept her resolve for about three more seconds before she sighed, “Alright, alright, we shall get all dressed up and make our rounds at this party.”

The red head jumped up and down, clapping her hands like a little girl, “I knew you would say yes.”

“Now, you sit at that desk and study for your physics exam while I finish this order.” She said sternly, reminding Claudia of the mother she could barely remember anymore.

As Claudia sat at her own desk, Pete opened the door to Myka’s room, despite the warning against his life if he bothered her.

“It’s called knocking, Pete,” Myka said from her sitting position the floor, fixing her glasses that she hated wearing outside the apartment because she thought they made her look dorky as she stared at the books and binders encircling her, “You should really consider trying it sometime.”

“You would have just said, ‘Go away, I’m busy’,” he said by way of explanation as he tilted his read to try and read what she was scribbling so madly away on.

“That’s because I’m studying Pete,” she finally looked up at him, “We do have midterms next week that we have to pass.”

“Like you’ve ever failed a test in your life,” Pete teased, “Wait, are you reading War of the Worlds, _again_?”

“Yes, Pete, I have an in class essay on popular science fiction,” She closed the book, marking her place with a sticky note as she did so, “I wanted to brush up on it.”

“Mykes, you’ve read that thing a hundred and one times, you have it memorized I bet!” he argued, “Look, you don’t have to study tonight. You can go to the dorms with Steve and I and chill out.”

“A party, Pete?” Myka raised an eye brow at him, “Really? That’s what you’re bothering me for? I have studying to do!”

“Go with us tonight, Myka, one night of fun. I promise you won’t regret it,” he put his hands together to indicate begging, “I’ll even help you study tomorrow and Sunday.”

Pete never really helped Myka study for anything. It was really a chance for her to try and cram some material in his head before his tests, but when he couldn’t handle anymore, he would leave her alone in the peace of the library to actually get studying done.

“And if you don’t come with us, I will make this weekend extremely difficult for you,” He tried threats when the promises didn’t appear to be working, “I’ll also go see your parents over spring break, and when they tell me they thought you were caught up working on some project, I’ll tell them you really gave up going to see them for Cancun.”

“Pete, that’s ridiculous, I’m not going to Cancun for spring break,” she shook her head, some of her curls falling lose from where she had pulled them back with a hair tie, “And more than a little cliché if you ask me.”

“Yeah, but who do you think they’re gonna believe?”

Pete had her there. Myka’s parents loved Pete, he was like the son they never had, and her mother always seemed to try and get them together. But Pete and Myka had always only ever been friends. He never used the fact that her own parents liked him better as a weapon, and it hurt a little that he would do it now, but Myka didn’t show the hurt, she buried it away with the other things she hid inside herself.

“So is she going?” Steve asked as he poked his head around the threshold of Myka’s door.

Myka looked from one hopeful face to the other before sighing, throwing her note book back to the ground, “Fine, I’ll go with you.” She agreed.

Pete and Steve high-fived and began a roshambo match to see which of them got the shower first. Pete let out a cry of victory as his rock smashed Steve’s scissors with a little too much gusto, “Man I am on fire!” he declared before claiming the bathroom the boys shared.

“Why does nobody ever close the damn door?” she asked the air as she stacked her books and papers together neatly, she rose on legs slightly wobbly from disuse, and slammed the door with perhaps more force than necessary.


	2. Where Did the Party Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What had originally started as a floor party on the sixth floor of the campuses co-ed dormitories, had somehow escalated as word of mouth got around until all ten floors transformed into one huge party, and Myka just knew there had to be a few poor students hating that they lived on campus. No studying was going to be happening tonight.

School was a challenge, and Myka thrived under a challenge. So she enjoyed college, immensely more than she liked high school. In fact she hated high school. It was hard going to the same school as your younger sister, especially when she was beautiful and popular while you were a nerd who tutored kids for fun. Having the star quarter back as a best friend kept her from being picked on, but while people noticed her presence around the easy going football player, they mostly ignored her.

College was easier for Myka, for a few reasons. One of which was being in a different state than her perpetually disappointed father and no longer stood in the shadow of her younger sister. Another was the fact being scary smart and well-read in college was actually a good thing. She lived with her friends and knew she could share in their company if she wanted. It was blissfully simple.

The hard part about living with Pete and Steve was being expected to join them on their nights out. They’d gone out before, Myka usually acting as Steve’s wingman, Steve acting very much the gay best friend talking up Pete. But Pete liked using Myka to distract guys from other girls, thus making them jealous and more likely to talk to the guy willing to pay attention to them.

Myka hated it to no end, but Pete was her best friend, and this was something best friends did for each other. They always stayed in earshot of one another, that way if things ever got too hinky, Pete would always drop whatever dumb blonde he was chatting up and come to her rescue without question.

All Myka had to do was say fudge in a sentence, which usually ended up being something along the lines of “I smell fudge.” On the flip side, if there was a girl who was psycho coo coo bananas who had cornered Pete, he would ask her, “Do you smell fudge?” and Myka would swoop in and pretend to be an angry girlfriend that he would have to abandon the other girl for to chase after. It was the same line they had been using since they developed the system in high school.

It was hard for Myka to go to parties with Pete and Steve. The two always seemed so at ease in the crowd, surrounded by people they could easily sleep with if they chose to. While Myka hung back, tried to make herself invisible as possible in the throngs of people. Myka hated crowds, the too loud voices of people who had too much to drink grated against her nerves, and usually Pete considered it a successful night if he didn’t have to rescue some poor shmuck who thought Myka would take unwanted advances passively.

What she really hated was Pete always made her dress up. Steve had begun shopping with her, giving his male opinion without ogling her like Pete would have, and since then she had to admit her wardrobe had improved considerably.

When she had one of her newer outfits on, one she actually liked, she gave herself a once over in the mirror, removing her glasses with an eye roll before starting the search for her contacts. Getting ready to go out always reminded Myka of her younger sister, Tracy. A year younger, but infinitely more popular than Myka was. She was the expert at this, and had actually been the one to teach Myka how to do her make up.

Tracy and Myka were constantly competing for their parent’s affections, but Tracy was the only one Myka really missed from home. Not that she was home anymore, she had graduated. Then, with their parents blessing, decided to go to Europe for a year before college.

“Mykes!” Pete’s booming voice along with the knock on the door caused Myka to jump, “Are you ready yet, or what? I’m ready to par-tay!” he said in a sing-song voice and Myka just knew he was doing some ridiculous dance on the other side of the door.

“Pete, I don’t know about this.” She complained as she pulled back the door, fixing the shirt that suddenly felt like it was much too tight on her body.

“Come on Mykes, you’re hot.” Pete insisted as he grabbed her shoulders and looked in her eyes.

“Ew, Pete, that just sounds creepy when you say it,” but she smiled and blushed, feeling a little better about herself.

“But he’s not lying!” called Steve from the kitchen, where he was drinking massive amounts of water, preparing his body for the assault of alcohol it was sure to encounter. His comment mixed with the fact they all knew Steve was the equivalent of a human lie detector made Myka’s face turn an even darker shade of red.

“Alright, alright,” She mumbled, “Let’s just go before I change my mind.”

Pete drove them, always the sober driver of the group. Myka couldn’t remember the last time Pete drank. It was before Sam’s death though, of that she was certain. Myka swallowed hard and pushed thoughts of the past out of her mind. Pete was right. It was about damn time she had one fun night.

What had originally started as a floor party on the sixth floor of the campuses co-ed dormitories, had somehow escalated as word of mouth got around until all ten floors transformed into one huge party, and Myka just knew there had to be a few poor students hating that they lived on campus. No studying was going to be happening tonight.

The smell of alcohol and desperation hung thick in the air, tinged with something decidedly wicked, and Myka made a point to tell Pete to be careful what kind of brownies he ate that night.

The thumping bass of competing stereos rattled all the pictures on the bookshelves in Claudia and HG’s room. There was a crashing sound and the cacophony of over a hundred people laughing and talking all at once.

“This is madness,” HG shook out her dark tresses as she stood in the door way, stepping back as two burly guys carried a keg down their hall way, headed for their floor’s common room it would seem.

Even though the tenth floor was usually for students they thought would drop out, or join a fraternity and there for usually quite vacant, someone had deemed that the elite of the college students were on the top floor tonight. There were freshman frat boys at each stair well, judging whether the person trying to cross them was worthy of continuing to the next level.

It was all rather juvenile, if you asked HG. But she did rather like parties, at least before she moved to the Americas. And she promised Claudia she would have fun with her tonight. She just thanked God they lived on the top floor and didn’t have to bare the scrutiny of being checked out by a half drunk Neanderthal to get back up here, or risk the chance of being rejected.

But it seemed as the night wore on, and the beer goggles came in to play, more and more people were joining the top floor.

Claudia fixed her make up for the hundredth time before finally declaring the world ready for her and they moved out of their room, being sure to lock it behind them. Claudia pushed a small button, and they listened to the alarm system Claudia built beep on.

“Let’s do this,” Claudia said with a huge grin.

HG grabbed the girl’s hand and lead her through the crowded hall way, people tended to move out of Helena’s way while they usually ignored Claudia, expecting her to step out of their way first, until they reached the common room.

The crowd was swaying this way and that to the beat of some song Helena didn’t recognize. Claudia stepped in front of the Brit, tilting her head to the left, indicating where she wanted to go.

Of course, what college party is complete without the obligatory douche bag with a guitar? That would be the person Claudia wanted to go for. He was a step up from her normal targets, but not by much. HG humored her best friend, setting their path to the edge of the room.

Helena talked up the men surrounding the guitar player, laying on her accent thick, exuberating confidence and feinting interest. She subtly stepped slightly back from where they had been gathered around the couch, and they followed, taking the bait and allowing Claudia room to talk to the guy without being under the scrutiny of his friends. She, always the protective one, made sure to stand where she could keep an eye on Claudia as well as the rest of the room, keeping her back to the wall.

Pete and Steve were trying to get their group to the top floor, but they were failing miserably.

The first through fourth floors had been easy enough. Pete was charming, looked like he belonged in a frat, had an attractive girl on his arm, and they let them through.

The fifth floor, Steve chuckled to himself and swept in front of them, talking up the frat boy on watch until he had them convinced to let them through. He leaned in to him, invading his personal space, and Myka was sure the tough looking kid was going to react badly to the come on, but he didn’t seem to mind it.

“Friend of yours?” She asked half way up the stairs.

“There’s a possibility of that,” he had a smug smile plastered on his face, “I got his number at least. So that puts me in the lead. One to nothing to nothing.” He pointed at the other two in turn.

“Are we honestly doing that again?” Myka groaned.

The numbers game was simple enough. The three of them went into a party or club, and whoever got the most valid numbers won. Unless you went home with someone then and there, then that was an automatic win. Pete usually won, but at the last party Steve had pulled ahead at the last minute. Myka hardly ever tried, but the ridiculous victory dance Steve was doing struck the competitive nerve in her.

“Come on, I wasn’t even trying!” Pete complained, picking up the pace as they moved around a couple making out on the steps.

“Well,” Myka shrugged, “There are five more floors, and surely you can work that Pete charm and beat me, right?” she quirked an eyebrow.

“Oh you are so on!” Pete declared.

They moved through the fifth floor, Pete getting three numbers, Myka two and Steve two, putting the boys tied for first. The sixth floor was interesting, while Pete chatted up a few girls, obviously trying to play them against each other and get multiple numbers at once, Myka realized she was actually getting a bit of attention. People she recognized from classes were checking her out as if they had never seen her before. Causing Myka to ride a thin line between excitement and nervousness. The seventh and eight floors, the boys each hit a wall, having a tougher time with the girls and guys who had made it up this floor.

So by the time they reached the stairway leading to the tenth and final floor, they were tied at six numbers each. Pete started trying to walk past the guy standing on guard, and got stopped. Pete looked over his shoulder to Steve, who just shook his head and shrugged.

Myka rolled her eyes, her head pounding already from the louder music of the top levels, with just enough courage from the two beers she had on previous floors, and moved in front of Pete. She cocked her hip, no longer quite self-conscious about her revealing outfit, and stood before the barrier.

“Hey,” she said simply with a slow smile.

The frat boy looked her up and down, pausing for a moment longer on her breasts before grunting and stepping aside. She turned and winked at Pete, briefly considering leaving him behind for the sake of the game, but knew she needed him there as a security blanket. She grabbed his hand and began to drag him up the stairs.

He turned around to get Steve, but he was met with his retreating figure, being pulled away by another guy with dark hair and a cocky smile that said he knew he was attractive.

“Lucky dog,” Pete shook his head before following his best friend up to the top floor, anxious to see what party awaited them at the top. These weren’t the scholarship kids. These were the Ivey League bound, come from money kids. Future doctors and lawyers and politicians. It made for a better challenge for Pete, but he also knew these kids had a lot of stress, and would be drinking heavily before tests.

Pete and Myka stay about an arm’s length apart from each other once they reach the top, not wanting to give the impression that they are here together, but also wanting to keep an eye on their friend. Pete zones in on a girl cheering on her friend doing a keg stand and walks almost zombie like to her.

She’s wearing a sorority shirt, her brown hair pulled back to reveal a smile he can’t seem to look away from. She notices him approaching, and her gaze drags over him before smiling in appreciation.

“Hey,” he puts his hand out, suddenly shy and unsure of himself, “I’m Pete.”

“Kelly.” She accepts his hand in his own.

Myka smiles and decides her friend needs some space, thinking she could handle herself for one night. Because the way Pete was looking at Kelly was far different than the way he had been staring at the other girls all through the night.

Myka decided to let go a bit. She grabbed a beer and cracked the top. It wasn’t her favorite, she hated the taste of beer in fact, but it was college, so she tipped it back. Feeling her inhibitions begin to slip away.

She attracts the eyes of a few frat guys, and Myka entertains them for a bit, accepts an offer to dance here, a drink there, not really thinking much of it. But when the room starts to spin, she struggles to remember how much she has had to drink.

“I need a bathroom,” she mumbles, turning and stumbling, catching herself on a wall.

“I’ve got you,” a male voice she doesn’t know if she recognizes tells her as large hands close around her waist.

She looks up into grey eyes nearly hidden behind greasy blond hair.

She shakes her head, knowing she can’t go with him, fear settling in her stomach as she realized he was the boy she accepted a beer from. She struggled to remember if she had popped the top herself or not.

“I think I smell fudge.” She insisted, trying to plant her feet firmly beneath her as he lead her through the swarm of gyrating bodies, “Do you smell fudge?”

He shook his head, “I don’t think pot brownies are going to mix well with what you’ve had to drink.” He informs her.

But he doesn’t understand what she’s trying to do. Myka looks around, trying to find a familiar face, Pete or Steve. But Steve is stuck on the ninth floor talking to Liam, and she doesn’t see Pete on the couch talking to Kelly next to a redhead having a conversation about music with a guitar player.

Just when she feels like she is going to vomit from the beer and panic of this situation she had found herself in, the guy comes to a halt.

“Hello,” a pleasant voice cuts easily through the noise surrounding Myka and reaches her in her daze, “And just what do you think you are doing with my friend here?”

Helena had seen the brunette from the moment she arrived, wearing sinfully tight jeans and an even tighter black shirt whose neck line should have been borderline criminal. She had noticed her long before that though, had seen her around campus in a literature class they shared, but she was always with those two boys, so she never approached her, although she made her insanely curious. But when she entered the room, HG’s eyes had found her as if she’d always been looking for her, waiting for the moment she would show up, not realizing it was something she hoped would happen.

She lost track of her for a little while, not feeling comfortable leaving Claudia just yet, just catching glimpses of the other woman through the crowd, laughing and seeming to enjoy herself. But when she looked around her suitors to find her again, she noticed her stumble into a wall, a look of confusion and panic on her face, and a skeevy looking frat boy leading her toward the hall way.

She tried to hide the boiling rage she felt as she talked to him now.

“Um, she’s a bit hammered,” He scrambled for an excuse, “I was just going to take her for some fresh air.” he shifted his hold on her, as she seemed to be struggling some against his grasp.

“Right, then.” Helena stepped forward, “Our room is on this floor, I’ll just take her back now.” She put one of the taller woman’s arms around her shoulders, shifting her weight so she could pull her from his grasp, “Thank you for your kindness, please feel free to leave at any time. Preferably before I get back and find you.” She smiled sweetly but the threat was clear.

He moved away from her with his hands held up in surrender.

“Now,” she looked at the woman struggling to stay on her feet beside her, “Let’s get you out of this crowd, shall we?”

“I haven’t even had that much to drink,” her words were slow, but understandable as HG lead her away from the sweaty bodies and towards the hallways that would take them back to her room, “I’ve had…four.” She took the time to reach in her pocket and produce four red beer can tabs, “See? I kept track.”

“Yes, I see that darling,” Helena assured her, “But I think you may have had a little something special in that last one.”

The taller woman groaned and pitched forward slightly.

“Come on, almost there,” she encouraged, fishing around her pocket for the room key.

An alarm sounded as she swung the door open, and that seemed to rouse her intoxicated companion slightly.

“Bloody hell.” She breathed as she lay the woman on her bed before turning to the key pad by the door, punching in the five keys necessary.

She sighed at the silence. Well, as silent as she could hope for with a party raging outside her hallway. She walked to her bed, kneeling at the side and brushing the straightened locks from the barely conscious woman’s face. “Your hair is much prettier when you leave it curly,” she noted.

“Hm?” she opened her eyes a bit, struggling to focus.

“What’s your name darling?” HG asked softly, repeating the motion of brushing back her hair.

She blinked for a moment, “Myka.” She answered finally.

“Myka,” HG repeated with a smile, “At least I know the name of the woman lying in my bed, I suppose.”

“You have a pretty voice.” Myka grinned drunkenly, eyes closing a bit.

Helena blushed slightly at the drunk complement, “And you are going to have a splitting headache in the morning. I’m going to fetch you some water.”

She crossed the room to the miniature refrigerator she and Claudia shared, pulling out one of the bottles of water from the door and bringing it back to Myka.

She set it on the night stand before putting her hands on Myka’s shoulders, sitting her up and moving her back so the wall supported her. Her head lulled slightly to her chest as she groaned.

“Now Myka,” Helena spoke slowly as she cracked open the water, “I want you to drink all of this water, understood? Otherwise you will feel even worse in the morning.”

“Mkay,” Myka nodded drunkenly as she accepted the water, spilling a little on herself, but managing to drink the rest of it without a fuss.

HG tossed the bottle into the garbage, and then made her drink another.

“You’re really pretty.” Myka giggled from her bed with a hiccup, “Where am I?”

“In my room,” Helena explained, moving too look out her window at the blue and red flashing lights approaching.

“I need to go home.” She struggled to stand, but Helena put a firm hand on her shoulder and made her sit back down on the mattress.

“I really think you should stay, the police are going to round up whatever drunken students they can and haul them in.” It was two in the morning, and she was honestly surprised that the campus security had allowed this party to last as long as it did, and she found herself wondering why one of the Resident Assistants hadn’t called them sooner.

Myka looked up at the English woman standing before her, swallowing thickly as she was met with an intense gaze. She truly was beautiful, but not in a way Myka had grown accustomed to while living in California. Even her state of dress was different, modern and old fashioned all at once with her waist coat and skinny jeans. She knew she recognized her, but she was struggling to remember from where.

HG’s door opened suddenly, as someone she didn’t recognize poked their head in with a panicked expression, she cursed herself for not remembering to lock the door, “Cops are here hide your shit!” he warned before disappearing once more.

“Claudia.” She breathed, worry clenching around her heart, she turned back to Myka who seemed to be coming around a bit more thanks to the hydration, “Myka, darling, I must go find my roommate, I shall be right back.”

She was half way down the hall when the first sounds of panic from the first floors reached her, cops yelling and students trying to get away. She reached the common room, where it seemed the party was still mostly going on, and grabbed Claudia’s hand, jerking her away from the boy she was clearly about to make a more definite move on.

“The police are on their way up, I suggest you leave while you still can,” She warned the boy as an apology.

As the words left her mouth, the students at the top began to freak out, moving for fire escapes and the stairwell. HG kept Claudia close as they were bumped and shoved. She lost her sense of direction a few times and took longer than she expected to reach her room once more. The door was locked though she remembered leaving it unlatched. Claudia used her key and they were met with an empty room. She spun, searching their small room and cursing under her breath.

Helena considered braving the throngs of panicked students once more to search for Myka, but the sound of heavy boots coming down the hall quelled that idea. The police officer who knocked on her door was stern looking. She convinced him that they were in there all night, studying for their physics test. He grumbled, but Helena was an extremely difficult person to argue with.

When he left, Helena sat heavy on her bed, worry befalling her as her friend gushed over the guitar player whose name was apparently Dwayne.  And she prayed that Myka made it safely back to where ever it was she called home.

What she didn’t know, was that nearly as soon as HG made a mad dash to find her underage roommate, her door opened to someone Myka recognized instantly.

“Steve!” She called happily, struggling to stand.

“Mykes,” he shook his head, “What happened to you?”

She looked around, clearly confused before something dawned on her, “Someone spiked my drink. I think I’m supposed to stay here though…”

“I don’t think so, come on.” Steve’s voice came through clenched teeth as scooped her up so that she was cradled to him, arms wrapped around his neck.

He thanked god she passed out before they reached the fire escape, knowing Myka was terrified of heights, but fearing arrest more. He woke her for the last floor, the stairs leading away to a ladder, thankful that some scared off student had already put it down. She obediently sat there while he went down first, when it was her turn, she slipped halfway down and Steve grunted as he caught her.

“Let’s go home,” he shook his head, wondering what became of Pete who usually always watched their friend.

Myka slept through the taxi ride as well as Steve tucking her into bed after removing her boots. She dreamed of accents, and the raven haired beauties they belonged to.

Back in the dorms, on the fourth floor, a premed student sat in front of his desk, refusing to shut his eyes as he ripped his hair out at the roots, threats from his teachers of being removed from the program if he didn’t pass each of his midterms echoed through his head.

“Stay awake,” he slapped his face as he tried to drown out the noise of other students being arrested.

In a fit of rage, he gathered his book bag and made his way to the library, slipping unnoticed passed guards, knowing what he needed now to be sure he passed these tests. It awaited him in a far back shelf where he had hidden it. It called to him now, and he answered with the pounding of his shoes on the cement.


	3. Daze that Follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve was staring intently at the codified law book, while actually still trying to assess his feelings for his exboyfriend. Pete was doodling on the corner of his notebook, while checking his phone every five minutes for calls and texts. Myka had three books open in front of her and was writing away madly on a half-filled notepad. Claudia was humming happily to herself as she wrote music and code near simultaneously, each of her projects seeming to inspire the other. Helena would study her book for a few moments, then find herself staring off into space, her thoughts having nothing to do with physics and everything to do with Myka, whom she hadn’t seen since the party.

Steve sat in the old, but comfortable recliner in the living room. It was close to six in the morning and Pete still hadn’t come home. His anger only increased as the sun began to rise on a new day. He could feel the sleepless night, the aches in his body from going up and down the stairs as well as the slightly off feeling in his stomach from the alcohol. He knew he should really sleep while he could, Myka was going to be on the war path when she woke up, but his anger seething in the back of his mind kept him up.

It was slightly misdirected anger, and he wanted to take out his frustrations on Pete’s irresponsibility the night before. It would be easier than confronting the true target of his frustrations. Himself.

Liam had pulled him away from his friends, clearly tipsy as he led Steve to an empty room. ‘ _For old time’s sake,_ ’ Liam mumbled as he pulled at Steve’s Henley. And he wanted to say no, he really did. He was finally getting over the break up, going out and meeting people like Pete insisted he needed to. He really thought he had moved on.

But instead, under the familiar touch of Liam, Steve had given in. And now he felt sick to his stomach, because he knew he couldn’t be with Liam. Even if reconciliation were a possibility between them, he had let go. And he knew he didn’t want to be with Liam any more, which is what caused the sickness in his stomach. Sex had never been meaningless before, and after Liam left him alone in someone else’s dorm room, he felt used.

The sound of the tumblers in their front door lock pulled Steve back to the present, as he swallowed the humiliation and brought his anger to the forefront of his mind.

Pete was humming happily as he shut the door behind him, despite the lack of sleep, he wasn’t the least bit tired. He felt warm inside, and he couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off his face or the feel of Kelly’s lips on his cheek from when they said goodbye. He was making his way to his room when the light in the living room flipped on, stopping him in his tracks.

Pete jumped, gripping the front of his chest where his heart was trying to escape as his eyes fell on his roommate sitting in the corner, leaning back in the chair, hands clasped under his chin, face set in stone.

“Jesus, Jinks,” Pete whispered harshly, “I thought you were a murderer or something, what are you sitting in the dark for?”

“Oh, you know, just waiting up for you,” Steve kept his voice calm, “Cops crashed the party around two, where were you?”

“I met this girl,” Pete could feel his grin creep back onto his face, “At the party, Kelly. She’s this smokin’ premed chick, and we got to talking and we decided to go somewhere a bit quitter.” Pete left it open to interpretation, but in reality, it was the first time Pete spent the whole night with a girl, who wasn’t Myka, and didn’t end up having sex.

Kelly intrigued him, smart girls were generally out of his depth, but she seemed interested in him anyway. They walked the campus grounds, sat in the student coffee shop and talked about everything and anything that crossed their minds. Stopping only when they noticed the sky lightening in the east.

But, he didn’t know if Myka and Steve ended up with the digits of anyone else at the party, and he didn’t like the thought of losing to Steve again, or God forbid, Myka. He would never live it down if the girl who dated all of one person in high school, and even that was something Pete himself had set up, beat him in the numbers game.

“Well, I’m glad you had fun,” Steve’s tone shifted quickly, “Because while you were off completing your latest conquest, you seemed to have forgotten all about your best friend.”

“Myka?” Confusion at the sudden change in the atmosphere kept Pete dense as his eyebrows bunched together on his forehead, “What did she do?”

“What did she do?” Steve leaned forward suddenly in the chair, his voice raising an octave out of indignation, “She took a page from your book, relaxed, had a good time drank some… Ended up having something slipped into her drink.”

“What?” Pete’s eyes shot to his best friend’s closed door as he felt his stomach relocate to somewhere around his feet, “Is she-is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine now, no thanks to you,” Steve shook his head and rose to his feet, “Where were you man? We’re supposed to be keeping an eye on each other! Can you imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t found her?” his voice came out strangled.

Pete was seeing red, “Do you know who it was? What room did you find her in?”

“I don’t know,” He shook his head, “I was opening random doors, saw more body parts of strangers then I ever wanted to. I found her sitting on a bed, a dorm room full of, I don’t know, electrical stuff… She was pretty out of it still, but fully clothed at least. She said something about someone slipping her something, and that she didn’t think she was supposed to leave.”

Pete turned to hit the wall, but stopped his fist a few inches from the surface. “I’m sorry.” He said through clenched teeth. He ran both hands through his hair, leaving the heel of his hands over his eyes as he tried to process everything.

“It isn’t me you have to apologize to.” Steve moved around him without looking him in the eye, withdrawing into his own room and closing the door softly.

He collapsed on his bed, swallowed his anger and humiliation together in order to get a few hours of sleep, trusting his problems to keep until tomorrow where he could deal with them.

Pete opened Myka’s door, casting a rectangle of light that spilled in from the hall. She was breathing softly, her hair falling in her face. Pete, ever playing the big brother, drew her curtains tighter, turning off her alarm clock and phone. She was going to feel like shit in the morning, the least he could do was be sure she got as much sleep as possible. He put a hand gently on her head after brushing the stray locks back.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered again.

He sighed and retreated to his own waiting bed, the only one unable to sleep as the battling emotions of elation and guilt filled him. On the one hand, he may have just met the woman of his dreams. On the other, he had abandoned his best friend to horny college students with access to ketamine.

The apartment stayed quiet for a few hours. Myka was the first to roll out of bed, only to fall to her knees in front of the toilet as her stomach rejected the alcohol left in her system. She was having trouble remembering anything from the previous night, but her eyes were puffy and her head was pounding, muscles aching. At least she was in her own room, she figured. She had never had so much to drink that she blacked out, but she supposed that it was college, and there was a first time for everything.

She scrubbed her teeth until they bled and she no longer tasted vomit and beer before taking the hottest shower she could manage. She walked to the kitchen barefoot, listening for her roommates as she poured a glass of water and took four aspirin.

She groaned loudly as she looked at the clock, realizing she had slept in, for the first time ever, past noon. Even as a teenager, Myka was usually up with the sun. A day spent in bed was a day wasted, as far as she was concerned.

But the thought of studying made her head ache, and despite being hungry thinking of food was making her stomach lurch and she was still dizzy and exhausted. So she gave in, made a cup of tea and lay on the couch, curling up with War of the Worlds, but falling asleep before she could finish a chapter.

Her mind drifted lazily through dreams. Grey eyed villains and English heroines dancing inside her eyelids.

Seeing his friend sleep the day away only increased Pete’s guilt, so when Sunday came, he only pretended to resist the idea of joining her in the library.

“I spent all of yesterday in bed, you can go to the library with me to study. You have to pass your classes, too, Lattimer.” Myka had her hands on her hips as she spoke to Pete, looking adorable in her nerd glasses with her backpack on, but the glare in her eyes kept him from saying so.

Steve and Pete elected not to tell Myka of the roofie. They figured it was a crisis averted, and would keep a closer eye on her in the future. Telling her would only worry her unnecessarily, and possibly prevent her from ever venturing beyond the apartment again.

“Fine, Mykes,” Pete put his hands up in surrender, “We’ll go with you.”

“We?” Steve’s voice traveled down the hall, “Who’s we?”

“Last I checked, you had the same hard ass classes as me!” Pete retorted.

The friends were quiet as they ventured to the Library, each caught in their own little world. Pete trying to decide who was supposed to call who first after you spent the night together without having sex. Steve was wondering if what he and Liam had was a one night stand, or if this meant they were going to try and work things out. Myka was trying to figure out why she would be dreaming of a woman she barely knew, had seen her across the court yard, three rows over and two seats back from her in into to lit freshman year, but had never spoken to… did she even really have an accent?

Helena most certainly did as she turned to her roommate, declaring that the entire dormitory smelled of other people’s sick and she couldn’t concentrate, suggesting they retreat to the library to study. Claudia agreed, needing a change of scenery to get past the mental block that had formed.

The two groups were at opposite sides of the library from each other, Claudia having claimed a corner with an outlet for her laptop while Steve had collapsed in the first table the trio came across. They worked like this for a few hours, unaware of each other’s presence even with so little space between them… at least, a few of them were working.

Steve was staring intently at the codified law book, while actually still trying to assess his feelings for his exboyfriend. Pete was doodling on the corner of his notebook, while checking his phone every five minutes for calls and texts. Myka had three books open in front of her and was writing away madly on a half-filled notepad. Claudia was humming happily to herself as she wrote music and code near simultaneously, each of her projects seeming to inspire the other. Helena would study her book for a few moments, then find herself staring off into space, her thoughts having nothing to do with physics and everything to do with Myka, whom she hadn’t seen since the party.

Myka turned to the end of her book, and decided she would need a fifth literary source before she could really make this paper perfect. Pete glanced up as she rose, the worry evident in his sad eyes, and Myka couldn’t comprehend it, “I’ll be right back.” She assured him with a whisper, though the library seemed to be mostly vacant, many students electing to stay in their rooms or in the coffee shop to study.

She was standing at the top of the aisle leading to the admittedly limited science fiction section of the library when she saw her. Hair black as night, falling slightly in front of her pensive eyes, chewing on the tip of her pen as she stared off into space above her book.

It was her! The woman in her dreams, literally. Sitting ten feet from her with an ignored physics book and a look in her eye that clearly said she was daydreaming about something she liked. Before Myka could react further, she ran smack into the shelf full of books, setting in rocking slightly and she moved to steady it. Her face was beet red as she glanced back over and found the other woman glancing over at her, a slow smile and a quirked eyebrow covering her initial shock. Myka cursed at herself as she moved quickly down the aisle.

It was like déjà vu, repeating her reaction to the first time she had ever seen her. Across the quad, staring down at a sheet of paper, then up at the science building, chewing her bottom lip. Myka had her nose buried in a book when Pete whistled low, “Well, we don’t have those in Colorado Springs,” pointing Myka’s attention to who he was referencing.

Myka looked up, but kept walking, expecting to be unimpressed with Pete’s easily distracted attention, seeing as he had pointed out several blondes in tight shirts already. But what she saw caused her jaw to drop. Elegant even when completely still, her hand running slowly through her shoulder length, raven black hair as she tilted her head at the building. Myka was so enamored, she ran right into a pole face first, knocking her flat on her ass and giving her a slight black eye.

Pete had laughed but helped her to her feet instantly, “Geeze, Mykes, maybe you should wear your glasses all the time.”

She had been grateful to only have Pete as an audience then, now it was the woman who had caused her brain to freeze that had been there as witness, and she had never felt so mortified in her life.

“So stupid.” She mumbled to herself as she smacked herself in the head with a book.

“Now, now,” a lilting voice chided, “I do think the father of science fiction deserves much finer adjectives than stupid, wouldn’t you say so?”

Myka slowly turned from the section of books she was stopped at, and came face to face with the person whom she couldn’t seem to get out of her head, “huh?” she asked, trying to figure out if this was actually happening, while part of her brain was still functioning enough to note that the woman before her now did in fact have an English accent.

“HG Wells,” she pointed to the books now behind Myka, “I think he’s a fine writer, Vern on the other hand…” Helena trailed off, noticing the woman’s perplexed expression lingering, “Never mind, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Myka felt her face grow hotter, “Yeah, I’m fine, I was a little distracted was all,” she waved vaguely towards the shelf her body had become acquainted with earlier, “Midterms have got my head all mushy.”

 _Oh God, I did not just use ‘mushy’ in a sentence,_ she groaned internally.

“I wasn’t talking about that, darling,” She shook her dark hair, releasing the faintest scent of apples into the air that surrounded Myka, “I was referring to Friday’s party, you weren’t in my room when I returned, and I was a bit worried for you.”

“I was in your room?” Myka’s memory fog was lifting ever so slightly, she did remember sitting on a bed, being handed a water bottle.

“You’d had a bit to drink and I stepped in before a less than savory character could steal you away.” Myka saw a flash of something darker in her eyes.

“God, that’s embarrassing,” Myka hid her face behind her book once more, “I’m so sorry, I usually have a better handle on my drinking.”

The image before her reminded Helena of the first time she saw this beautiful creature standing in front her. In the first week of her first semester, still trying to get the lay of the land, test the waters of different things the campus had available. Walking down the row of booths offering sororities, associations, clubs… She knew she had to keep herself distracted while she was here, knowing things never ended well for anyone when she grew bored.

Myka had her nose in a book, HG Wells’ _The Time Traveler,_ not bothering to look around her as she walked towards the English building. Her curls were caught in the slight breeze her walk created, her blue button down shirt with perhaps one too many buttons left undone, but saved from being considered risqué by the cream colored camisole beneath it. Helena had stopped in her tracks. Something about the bright green eyes flicking intently over the words written by her long dead relative, the sure stride and quick reaction of dodging objects and people in her way without looking up. She wanted to know who this was, finally able to tell her legs to move in order to intercept her, but a large male wrapped his arm around her waist and spun her around. She laughed and closed the book on her finger, her eyes lighting up with a smile even as she demanded to be put down.

Helena had sighed, put off talking to the woman when she wouldn’t have her boyfriend around. But even when she realized she shared a class with her, she hadn’t approached. Too attached to the fantasy of the smart beautiful girl to have it ruined by being informed of prior commitments.

 And yet here they were now, less than a foot from each other, alone in the quiet of the library, a lovely flush in her cheeks and a small, embarrassed smile.

“You were a charm, I assure you,” Helena smiled, “And I hardly think the alcohol was the sole culprit in your intoxicated state.” She mumbled the last bit, trying not to hang on to the anger she knew would destroy her.

They stared at one another for a moment, the silence neither awkward nor uncomfortable, each just briefly lost in their own minds.

“Well, I don’t think we have been properly introduced,” Helena finally spoke when she realized she might have been staring too long into her eyes, trying to memorize the exact shade of green she always found so distracting when her mind was supposed to be focused on other tasks.

“At least not while I’ve been upright,” Myka agreed ruefully before putting her hand out, “Myka Bering.”

“Helena Wells.” HG accepted the handshake.

Sparks flew overhead between the hanging lights accompanied by the brief sound of surging electricity. Both women looked up, neither breaking the contact between their hands.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Helena demanded softly, eyes staying trained on the lights that seemed to return to normal.

Myka silently asked herself the same thing as she glanced down at their still clasped hands, referring to the rush of warmth she felt at the first meeting of their fingertips.


	4. What a Curious Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How was it that this one girl had so much power over her? She wasn’t even saying anything and yet she was clouding Helena’s thoughts so completely. She had to get a hold on herself, she couldn’t allow this, whatever it was, to happen.

Helena looked back to her companion, mind reeling from the static charge that seemed to emanate from their palms touching, but found Myka staring intently at their still grasped hands, eyes puzzled. Helena broke the contact, much as she hated doing so, feeling embarrassed with herself that she had held on for so long.

How was it that this one girl had so much power over her? She wasn’t even saying anything and yet she was clouding Helena’s thoughts so completely. She had to get a hold on herself, she couldn’t allow this, whatever it was, to happen.

HG cleared her throat as her hands found her pockets, “Where were we? Oh yes, Friday’s party. I assume you made it home in one piece then? No trouble with the police officers?”

It took Myka a moment to understand the question, too preoccupied with listening to the way words sounded as they fell from Helena’s lips. It was confusing for her, she couldn’t understand the warm feeling in her chest she felt every time Helena’s deep brown eyes met hers, “What? No, no, Steve brought me home.”

“Ah, the boyfriend,” Helena nodded, biting the inside of her cheek, trying to hide her disappointment, “That’s good, I suppose, saved you from finding any more trouble.” This is one of the many reasons she couldn’t entertain the feelings she felt blooming beneath her breastbone.

“I’m sorry, my what?” Myka shook her head, sure she had misheard the other woman this time, God damn it, why could she only focus on the voice and not the words? This was ridiculous.

“Your boyfriend?” HG tilted her head towards the taller woman, “The tall, dark haired fellow with the boyish grin whom I always see you walking around the campus with.”

“Pete?” Myka blanched, pulling back slightly.

“Sure, Pete.” Helena allowed, trying to hide her grimace at his name.

“Ew no,” Myka waved her hands in front of her with a snort, “Pete’s not my boyfriend. He’s just been my best friend since grade three when I punched Ralph Burnsky in the nose when he stole Pete’s lunch box. Since then, he’s been the big brother my parents wish I had.”

“So, this Steven then, he is your significant other.” HG seemed to remember seeing the blond, serious looking boy walking to and from classes with Pete and Myka. She should have been embarrassed for ‘noticing’ Myka around school so much, she supposed.

Myka chuckled as she tapped the top of her shoe on the floor, “I don’t think I’m Steve’s type.”

HG’s eyebrow quirked as the hint of a smile began playing on her lips, “Beautiful, intelligent women are not his type?” she hazarded a guess.

Myka felt her blush return at the implied compliment, especially coming from someone who was as gorgeous as Helena, “I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say women in general are not his type.”

“Ah,” Helena nodded, finally understanding what she had meant, but it made no sense to her none the less, “And how did you find yourself living with two boys, neither of which with whom you have a prior commitment?” She asked, finding her hope rising for some reason.

There was something about this Myka Bering that had captured her interest and wouldn’t let go. She was beautiful, but obviously unaware of it. She smiled, but there was a shadow of insecurity and sadness reflected in her eyes that Helena felt she was all too familiar with. And the books she had witnessed her reading were not books people generally tended to pick up these days, Oscar Wilde, Merry Shelly, Victor Hugo… she apparently had an era she was fond of.

Myka shrugged, “It was easier to live off campus in an apartment with friends. I knew I could trust Pete, and well, we sort of adopted Steve along the way.” She chuckled, “But no, I have no ‘prior commitment’ to either of them.” She didn’t know why she felt compelled to point that out now, to put an emphasis on it in such a clear and obvious way.

“Well that’s their loss then.” HG smiled, her eyes twinkling and making it nearly impossible for the other woman to think clearly.

Myka opened her mouth, unaware of how to respond, but she saved by the lights flickering once more. “You think they’d be able to keep the lights on in this place for how much I’m paying to go here.” She was finally able to laugh softly as she ran a hand through her untamed curls.

“Actually,” Helena sighed, “That may be my roommates doing. I’ve left her alone far too long with the computer, who knows what sort of trouble she has found herself. She tends to get bored rather easily.”

“The redhead who was sitting next to you?” Myka ventured, “She looks like she belongs in high school still.” She pointed out.

“She’s nineteen, but she graduated early. Some sort of genius,” Helena rolled her eyes, “And now I’ve been stuck with her as a roommate for the last year and a half. Did you know, she completely tore apart our room’s wiring, just to see if she could put it back together in half the time it took her?”

Helena’s words sounded harsh, but the grin on her face told Myka she was actually fond of the girl, and was probably even involved in the dismantling of her dorm’s electrical wiring.

When the lights dimmed briefly once more, they looked to one another before silently agreeing to go see if it was in fact her friend growing bored, or perhaps rewiring something to power that heavily modified laptop of hers.

When they reached Helena’s study table, they found Claudia cursing darkly at her computer screen before hitting the side of it sharply, “Come on, I will not lose eight hours of work, what is wrong with you? You’re fully charged, please tell me you’re not sick…” she wined the last part, desperately hitting control-s over and over. She sighed and sat back before noticing her audience.

The techie could have sworn that HG was just sitting beside her, but now she found the Brit staring down at her with a questioning gaze at the opposite end of the table, a curly haired brunette she didn’t recognize beside her with an identical look. Claudia guessed they didn’t realize they also took up the same stance, hip cocked, arms crossed. It would have been comical, if it were not so confusing.

“What?” She demanded, feeling self-conscious under their duel looks of scrutiny.

“Claudia, are you playing with the lights again?” HG asked as if she were speaking to a child, pointing up at the flickering bulbs above them.

“No,” she shook her head before hitting the side of her computer screen again, “It’s not me.” Myka heard the unspoken _this time_ at the end of her statement, “Whatever it is, it’s screwing with my computer.” She added angrily.

“Myka?” Pete’s shouted whisper carried over easily to them and Myka turned her head in response.

Claudia’s head shot up and she looked to her friend with wide eyes, ‘ _That’s Myka?’_ she mouthed as she pointed her finger at the about faced woman.

HG nodded slightly, but made a slicing motion across her neck, trying to tell her not to say anything. Helena had told Claudia why she looked so worried the day before. HG had only explained that she saved a girl from being victimized. But the tone of her voice and the look in her eye had told Claudia so much more.

In the near two years that they had known one another, they never spoke much about their pasts, each wanting to leave old transgressions and dark days exactly where they were. But that didn’t stop Claudia from asking her roommate for advice on getting guys, to which Helena responded, “Many of my ex’s were men.” Claudia had laughed at the time, but figured hey, to each her own.

Myka was the first girl she had actually _seen_ HG get all flustered over, the first person actually. She teased boys, used them as a distraction, but never bothered to actually remember their names. She’d mention the girl she semi-crushed on from afar from time to time, then after Friday, HG must’ve talked about her for an hour straight. Nothing about obvious affection, but Claudia could definitely see the difference.

“Over here, Pete.” She called softly, shooting a worried glance around as if waiting for someone to shush them. Claudia wanted to point out that they were the only ones in the library that she could see, but held her tongue.

Pete and Steve poked there head around a corner, relief crossing each of their features before they crossed the rest of the distance separating them from Myka.

“Making new friends?” Pete smiled at HG as Steve quietly sat at the table. Myka noted that he was being quieter than usual and made a note to ask him about it when they got back home.

“Yes, Pete, this is Helena and her roommate, Claudia,” she waved to each woman in turn, though her eyes lingered a bit longer on HG, “Helena, Claudia, these are my roommates Pete Lattimer and Steve Jinks.”

“Nice to meet you. Hey, you guys are girls right?” Pete asked as soon as he sat down, making himself comfortable despite any situation as per usual. Myka rolled her eyes at her best friend, but Helena was the only one to notice the gesture.

“Last I checked yeah,” Claudia snorted at him as her fingers danced over her keyboard once more.

“Great,” Pete clapped his hands together before leaning forward on the table, “So I have a follow up question, how long after a date do you think a guy should wait before calling you?” He asked, his face and tone dead serious.

“Did you spend the night together?” HG asked without missing a beat as she returned to her seat, and Myka smiled.

“Yeah?” Pete looked up at her, a lost look in his eyes.

“Well, was it a one night stand or…?” she waved her hand vaguely.

“How would you know if it was a one night stand?” Steve interrupted whatever Pete was about to say, “Like is there a way to tell if it’s gonna lead to something more?”

“How come you guys never ask me these questions?” Myka grumbled as she plopped down between Helena and Pete.

“Do you have an answer for either of us?” Pete turned to his best friend, who gave an unintelligible grumble and half shrug that caused the woman watching her to fight a smile, “That’s what I thought.”

Helena opened her mouth to talk some sense in Myka’s two clueless friends, hoping to gain favor with her by playing nice with them, but another power surge cut her off. Steve felt the hair on his arms rise as they all shot each other questioning looks, as if each expected the others to have an explanation.

“Claudia, can you figure out what’s causing the random shifts in the electricity?” Helena asked her young roommate suddenly.

“Normally, yeah, but whatever it is seems to be putting my laptop on the fritz.” The redhead groaned and Steve leaned over to see what she was trying so desperately to do on the computer.

Then the power died. Sparks flew above them, then darkness. Claudia’s computer, their cellphones, everything was unresponsive.

“I’ve got a really bad vibe about this.” Pete said as the group of students allowed their eyes to adjust to the darkness, light from the late afternoon sun helping, but they had east facing windows, so not much.

In the sudden deafening silence, there could be heard low cursing from deeper with in the library, accompanied by flashes of light. The two guys at the table were on edge as they had a silent argument over the heads of the girls.

“I’m gonna go check this out.” Pete insisted, rising from his chair suddenly.

“Pete, no,” Myka stood, but Pete was already moving away, she turned back to her other roommate, “Stay here, somebody’s gotta watch his back.”

The situation reminded Myla of old times on the school yard. Pete would go off to do some daredevil nonsense and Myka would trail after him to be sure there was something left to bring home to his mother. She hoped that Pete would grow up one day and she would have to stop worrying about him all the time.

Claudia and Helena shot each other twin looks of disbelief before the younger of the two turned to Steve, “Does this feel like the beginning of a b-rated slasher flick to anyone else?”

“I hardly know what that means.” HG rolled her eyes as she stood.

“It means that maybe we shouldn’t spit up,” Steve explained, “and I have to agree with her.”

“Music to my ears.” Claudia jumped up as the three of them went after the first two.

They were trying to stay as silent as possible, but Claudia and Steve began to bicker over scary movies and stubbed toes quietly, setting HG’s teeth on edge. She turned quickly, placing a hand over each of their mouths, glaring at each of them before reclaiming her hands, placing a single finger over her lips.

Claudia and Steve shared a look of mutual “what the hell is her problem?” before quickly moving to catch up with her.

Helena placed a hand on Myka’s shoulder from where she and Pete stopped advancing at the end of the History Texts aisle. She jumped at the unexpected contact, but held back the yelp of surprise that nearly escaped her throat as she glanced back and realized who it was. Helena’s face was closer than she expected, and it wasn’t helping to calm her racing heart so she quickly turned back around. The breath on her neck was distracting, but she bit back on her innate urge to pull away, waiting for Pete to look around the corner first.

What he saw was a crazed looking student pacing the floor, a mess of medical texts strewn about him. His quiet mumbling interrupted every so often with a heated shout. Something about failing and being unacceptable.

“I think we got a fifty one fifty,” he whispered over his shoulder to Myka.

“What’s that mean?” he heard an unexpected voice respond.

He turned and found that everyone had followed him, “Dude, what the hell?” he asked.

“What’s fifty one fifty?” Claudia repeated herself.

“It means they’ve got a screw lose.” Steve pointed to his head.

“Does he have a weapon?” Helena cut off whatever the redhead’s reply was.

“Something in his hands in throwing out electricity.” Pete whispered as he turned back to look at the student who was so far gone, he didn’t notice his hushed audience.

“Like a taser?” Myka tried, “Or a cattle prod?”

Pete shrugged, “I can’t tell, all I see is the flashes.” He squinted against another round of the bluish whitish lights.

“We’ve got to stop him before he hurts someone.” Myka leaned forward, but not knowing how to help.

“Um, excuse me, do you know how to take down an armed assailant?” Pete asked, looking at her as if she was crazy. “Was that something they taught in girl scouts?”

“Well you were a football player!” she quietly asserted, “Go tackle him or something.”

“The guys I tackled never tried to electrocute me Mykes, what do you want me to do?” Pete’s voice rose, this time too much. The crazed student noticed them.

“HEY!” he barked, startling Claudia who fell forward, causing a domino effect until the five of them were sprawled on the floor.

The man stalked over to them, flashes in his hand picking up tempo, what appeared to be small bolts of lightning escaped from between his fingers, “What are you doing here?” he shouted, “Can’t you see I’m busy!? Do you want me to fail!?”

His pale blonde hair stuck up at all ends, his watery blue eyes were blood shot and had deep purple circles around them. Something told Myka that he had lost more than a few nights sleep.

“What no!” Pete tried as the group struggled to their feet, “We were just-,”

“Spying on me?” the man narrowed his eyes, “Get over here, all of you! NOW!” he rose his voice once more when they weren’t moving fast enough.

He pushed each of them to their knees in his small cleared out corner of the library and resumed his pacing and ranting in front of them, “Trying to take it for yourselves? Well,” he chuckled darkly, “You can’t have it! It’s mine! I found it! I need it! You. Can’t. Have. It.”

They could see in his eyes that he was far too gone to be reasoned with, but Myka didn’t see any other options. They were alone with a mad man who could snap at any time. And they still couldn’t see what he had that was shooting off bits of electricity now.

“Look, we weren’t trying to take anything from you, we just heard shouting and we were worried someone needed help.” She kept her voice low and even, as if she were talking to a wild animal and not a boy no older than she was.

But he reacted like an animal, he lunged forward at the sound of her voice, shouting more about how she wasn’t going to get it. In his mind, he worked far too hard to get where he was to have some girl steal away his prized possession now.

He never got a chance to shut her up though. Before Pete could move in front of his best friend, before Steve could jump up and grab the guy, before Claudia could squeal in vicarious fear for the woman she had just met, Helena had knocked him unconscious. The heel of her hand stuck his stomach, her fist cracked two of his left ribs, and she brought her elbow down on the back of his head, and he collapsed. Alive, but not moving.

Everyone stared, baffled at the quick turn of events, Helena stood breathing heavily over Myka’s would be attacker. If she was honest, she had surprised herself even. It had been so long since she had to use her Kempo training, and she hadn’t even thought about it. Just reacted to the threat on Myka.

“Jesus Christ,” Pete breathed out finally, breaking the tension and releasing them all from their statue states of shock.

“I thought you were joking about the whole self-defense training!” Claudia laughed now, panic giving away to giddiness as the threat passed.

“Are you a spy or something?” Steve asked, “A government agent or-or military?”

The only two not speaking were Myka and HG, they were staring at one another, Myka stuck playing the loop in her mind, her eidetic memory capturing every moment. But she couldn’t figure out how the other woman had reacted so fast when Myka barely had the presence of mind to realize she should have just kept her mouth shut.

But HG had already formed the plan in the recesses of her mind. She could see what she had to do to stop the man before them, could easily tap into the strength, that balance of anger and level headedness she always needed. All she needed was the trigger, and him shifting his rage filled gaze on Myka was that trigger.

“Yes, well,” HG clapped her hands together to hide her nerves, “Right, so he’s unconscious then, should be for a little while at least. Now what?”

They rose, standing around the guy, staring at his limp hands as a simple, old fashioned Key fell from his grasp. 


	5. One Moment of Insane Bravery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group stared down at the unobtrusive object that continued to spark. It wasn’t the long strands of lighting it once was, it slowed, just so that it was barely noticeable, and then not at all. They all looked around, the confusion they felt palpable in the still electrified air. Each trying to figure out what just happened. From the time Myka left her table to now, a total of twenty minutes had passed, but it felt like hours as the adrenaline began to wear off.

The group stared down at the unobtrusive object that continued to spark. It wasn’t the long strands of lighting it once was, it slowed, just so that it was barely noticeable, and then not at all. They all looked around, the confusion they felt palpable in the still electrified air. Each trying to figure out what just happened. From the time Myka left her table to now, a total of twenty minutes had passed, but it felt like hours as the adrenaline began to wear off.

The lights came back to life, dim at first, then brighter. Not quite returning to their former glory, and save a few light bulbs that had been blown all together. Steve seemed like he was trying to speak, but didn’t know what to say. Helena crossed her arms and stared intensely down at the object while Pete was more interested in prodding the limp man with the tip of his shoe. Myka had her head in her hands, trying to convince herself it was time to wake up while Claudia began to get impatient.

Claudia’s curiosity finally got the better of her as she knelt to get a better look at the small key. Her proximity to the man who had held it was making Steve nervous, despite having witnessed her roommate pull some serious martial arts skill and knock him out. He appeared to be down for the count… but still. There was something about the snarky girl that struck a memory and protective urge in Steve and he had to hold himself back from reaching down and pulling her away.

Claudia reached a tentative hand out, reaching for the unassuming abject they suspected was to blame for the insanity that had just ensued.

“Don’t touch it, Claudia,” Helena warned, causing everyone to start and Claudia’s hand to jerk back slightly, the heavy silence that had befallen them broken once more, “We don’t know what that thing does.”

“Oh relax, _mom,_ ” the young tech nerd rolled her eyes as she looked up at HG, “It’s just a key, and I want to take a closer look. How much harm could it do?”

Helena held her tongue and made a hand washing motion in her roommate’s direction.

The older students held their breath as the redhead’s fingers closed the distance and brushed the rusted surface of the key. The sound of static erupted and Claudia yelped as she fell back on her ass, all her breath leaving her in a huff. She looked from her hand and to the key and back, “Ouch.” She said, surprised.

“I told you not to touch it.” HG chided with a smirk before she turned away. She found a well-used black book bag she assumed belonged to the boy on the floor. She opened the zipper and began to dig around in the mess she revealed.

“Let me see,” Steve sighed as he helped the girl up to her feet, holding on to her hand and inspecting her fingertips carefully, looking for burn patterns and calling on his first aid training.

“Yes, wait hold on.” Claudia shook her head back and forth as she pulled away from Steve. She began to quickly pace, her thumb touching the tips of each of her fingers in turn in a repetitive manner. She moved books out of her way with the tip of her boot until she unveiled a notepad and a pen, “I’ve got it, I’ve got it, I’ve got it.” She repeated to herself over and over.

Pete and Steve shared a look as Myka sighed and went to read over the suddenly agitated girl’s shoulder. It was nothing she could understand, lines of letters and numbers mixed with what appeared to be music notes. It was nonsense to Myka, but beautiful to its composer. She stopped writing suddenly, shaking out her short hair and making a noise like she was cold.

“That was… intense.” Claudia laughed as she stared in wonder down at the scrawled mess.

“What’s got into you?” Myka asked, grabbing the girl’s wrist and putting two fingers on her pulse, watching her pupils return to normal size, “It was like you were possessed, and your heart…”

“It was almost like, you know, that scene from pulp fiction,” Claudia made a stabbing motion into her chest, “It woke me up with a jolt, kinda like an electrical pulse from my hand to my brain.” She couldn’t quite explain the rush of pure energy that had washed over her, and served to demolish the mental block she was suffering in regards to the code she was writing for her computer technology class.

Helena found a pair of gloves in the book bag and donned them with a rubber snapping sound that drew everyone’s attention. Now it was Myka’s turn to worry as she watched Helena take up the position near the unconscious student that Claudia had abandoned. Myka chewed on her thumbnail as she moved closer to the other woman.

HG held her breath for a moment as her hand closed around the key. She sighed when its weight was felt in her palm without being electrocuted. She held the key between her thumb and forefinger, bringing it closer to her face, turning it this way and that. She couldn’t explain it, but the thing felt alive in her hand. Which was utter nonsense, since upon closer inspection it appeared to be nothing more than an old, rusting key, burned black. She stood straight once more, mind going a million miles an hour, but still noticing the decreasing distance between her and Myka.

“Check his pockets for ID.” Myka suggested to Pete as she moved to stand ever closer to the perplexed looking HG, “It’s just a key?”

Helena shrugged with a smile, “It would appear so. No wires or connections. It appears to be nothing more than an old toothed key. One must be left to wonder though, how he managed to produce electricity from a common key. Then there is our Claudia’s reaction to touching it…” the two women shared a smile at the mystery that had presented itself to them.

“Walter Sykes.” Pete read from the wallet he procured from the kid’s back pocket, “He’s a student here.”

“What are we gonna do with Sir Crazy Pants?” Claudia asked as she tore the sheet of paper from the note pad, folding it carefully before putting it in her pants pocket.

“He should wake up in a few minutes or so,” Helena tilted her head, “He’ll have a splitting head ache, and two cracked ribs, but there’s no permanent damage.”

“So your advice is to let him sleep it off?” Pete asked incredulously.

“He should be fine.” HG insisted, thought there seemed to be a shadow of doubt in her tone.

“Besides,” Myka added before anyone could object, “He looked like he needed the sleep. Did you see the shadows beneath his eyes? Or how bloodshot they were?”

“Mykes, you are not seriously sympathizing for this nut job, are you?” Pete wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her. That was just like Myka, ever the bleeding heart. Pete was all for seeing the best in people, but only if those people hadn’t just tried attacking you moments before.

“How about we stop talking about him,” Steve stared as Walter Sykes moaned weakly.

“And GTFO before he wakes up?” Claudia finished, “I’m with Jinksey.” She pointed a thumb at the now smirking Steve.

“Is that thing still charged?” Pete asked as he reached around and touched the key Helena still held in a gloved hand, he pulled back with a jerk and a strangled cry, immediately putting his finger in his mouth, “Yup, yes, yes it is.” He mumbled, eyes going wide.

“Pete, must you touch everything?” Myka hit his shoulder.

Pete didn’t even notice, he was distracted by the feeling flowing through his veins as if he had been injected with caffeine straight into his heart, he had the sudden urge to _do_ something. To run a mile or conquer the world, he felt pumped with energy, enough to do anything!

“You’re taking that with you?” Steve asked as HG removed one of her gloves and wrapped it tightly around the key before pocketing it, “You don’t even know what that thing does.”

“Precisely, Steven,” HG shook her head, “Would you rather I left it here for Mr. Sykes or some other student to find? Could you imagine the damage someone could do with this?”

Steve was still conflicted, but he allowed it. He didn’t want to leave the key lying around. If someone else where to get hurt because of it, that would be on him.

The moment of pure vitality was over quickly, leaving Pete feeling drained and disheartened. So by the time they got back to the study table that had been claimed by the smokin’ hot English chick and her snarky side kick, the only thing Pete was ready to do was go back to the apartment and crawl into bed. He didn’t hear the girls chattering away excitedly.

“What do you think is causing it?” Myka asked HG as they continued down the aisle.

“I have no idea,” the thought made HG giddy, the small object in her pocket held infinite possibility, “I want to take it back to our work shop, have Claudia run a few tests on it…”

“What are you thinking?” The techie turned to her roommate.

“I’ve begun to wonder if it is somehow creating its own electrical charge, and just how it is managing to do that.” Helena’s excitement grew.

“You think you can find that out?” Myka asked, just as animated as the other two, though she knew there was very little she could contribute science wise.

“We can certainly try.” Helena was trying to tell Myka she was invited back with them, without sounding to insistent or putting too much emphasis on the inclusive plural.

“Well,” Pete clapped his hands together, “You nerds have fun with that, I, on the other hand, have had enough excitement for one day, so we are going home.”

Myka was torn. Pete’s exhausted expression, Steve’s quieter than normal appearance, the need to finish studying all pulling her back to the apartment. But this puzzle in front of her wanted her to go in the opposite direction. The mystery of the key as well as the strange feeling inside her that she got every time the Brit looked at her intrigued her.

In the end, though, her cowardice won out. Nervous about being around someone that turned her brain to mush with a smile, as well as worry for her perfect GPA convincing her to go home where she could think and process everything that had just happened.

However, one insane moment of courage and curiosity kept her where she was for a moment longer even as Steve waved good bye to Claudia and Pete moved to gather the books back at their original table. She looked back at Helena’s face, where a mask had fallen as she realized Myka would not be accompanying her.

She stepped forward, reaching around HG to grab a pen from the table. She took Helena’s hand in hers once more, doing her best to ignore the tingling sensation that spread from her finger tips, rationalizing that it was left over charge from the key. She carefully wrote seven digits on the palm of Helena’s pale hand, blushing as she tried not to look her in the eye.

“I would really like for you to send me a text me later,” Myka explained as she returned the hand to a bemused looking HG, “You know, keep me in the loop on what you guys find?” it became suddenly difficult for Myka to speak.

“Of course,” Helena replied as she closed her fingers around the number, remembering the feel of Myka’s hand on her own.

She watched as Myka walked away, biting her lip when the brunette looked back at her once more before disappearing around a corner.

“Very interesting indeed.” She remarked with a chuckle as she held her closed hand to her chest.


	6. Delightful Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia was trying to read the power levels the key seemed to be giving off. She was using a frankensteined invention of her own creation. She made it after the last time she electrocuted herself.

Helena and Claudia learned early on in their relationship that perhaps their dorm room was not the best place for their little experiments. After two burned mattresses, several injuries and a few complaints from other dorm residents, they decided it was time to find a more suitable location.

What they ended up doing was “repurposing” a lab beneath the science building that Claudia accidently found while hacking the schools mainframe, she realized there was still electric and plumbing running through the basement of the building. She and Helena went to investigate and found a laboratory, long since having been abandoned and forgotten if the two inch thick layer of dust was any indication.

It became a pet project for them, to get it ready. Two weeks of cleaning and organizing and replacing faulty wiring all without being caught. They installed new locks, and a security system much like the one protecting their dorm. The security cameras that should have caught them were readjusted ever so slightly to allow them to go to and from the lab undetected.

Helena taped into what Claudia figured was an unlimited source of money and bought them equipment they would need. What they could not find or easily get a hold of, the two geniuses put their minds together and created. Their lab looked like something out of a bad science fiction movie where it was the future but the style was steampunk. And they loved it.

Dorm life has become much easier for other residents as Claudia and HG began to spend most of their time in the lab. No one knew where their resident fix it team disappeared to all the time, and unless they really needed their lap top repaired, no one really cared.

The privacy allowed for the two girls to focus on projects, this time, that project being the key they took from Walter Sykes. Well, at least one of them was able to stay focused.

Claudia was trying to read the power levels the key seemed to be giving off. She was using a frankensteined invention of her own creation. She made it after the last time she electrocuted herself. It took all the best parts of an e-meter, multimeter and electroscope. It served to read the amperage, electromagnetic energy and conductivity. It was one of the inventions she was most proud of, only now it was making no sense. All the readings were off the chart, and she actually had to rewire the device after, when she first hooked the damn thing up to the key, it sparked and shorted out.

Helena was ignoring the low made up swearwords pouring out of the younger inventor’s mouth. She was supposed to be studying the scrapings they managed to take off the key- they had to get creative when they couldn’t use a scalpel in fear of being electrocuted.

While she was supposed to be looking down a microscope, or waiting for the spectrometer to finish, she was instead staring intently at her right hand. Opposite fingers lightly tracing the seven numbers written on her palm while she unknowingly kept a stupid grin on her face. She had immediately put the number into her cellphone, so she could have washed the ink off, but she didn’t want to. Not yet.

She went over the moment in her mind again and again, relishing the feel of the taller woman’s hand holding her own, the concentrated look in those green eyes of hers as her cheeks flushed ever so slightly. The way she spoke when she told Helena to text her, the slight hitch of nervousness in her tone.

 _Oh, get it together!_ HG ordered herself as she rolled her eyes.

She had to have been reading far too much into the situation. Projecting her imagination on the world once more. Myka simply had a creative mind, and craved to know, like HG, how the small, unassuming key had caused such a ruckus. _She gave you her number so she could keep up on the mystery._ She chided herself.

 _But then why would she write her number on your hand rather than a piece of paper?_ The hopeful side of her mind retorted, _Why would she choose to hold your hand once more, inscribe her cellphone number on your skin if she didn’t feel at least a fraction of what you feel?_

But what did she feel? She had only spoken to the girl twice, once while she was inebriated. HG had fawned over the other girl from afar. Her choice in books, the way she walked, how she sounded as she spoke of literature in class… it was a superficial crush and nothing more. At least, that’s what HG kept telling herself. Now that she had actually met her, she was more conflicted than before. After all, it wasn’t like it was a possibility to pursue anything with the other girl.

Was it?

I mean, at the very least, the two could be friends, right? At least until HG could find a way to make it something more….

No, she couldn’t allow herself to think like that. Myka wasn’t like the other’s HG had set her eyes on, and she would be damned if she allowed herself to use up all the goodness she could see in Myka.

“HG!” Claudia yelled frantically over her shoulder, “Stop daydreaming and help me!”

The key had begun sparking again, and Claudia was holding up an old text book to protect herself form the shots of lighting that the key seemed to be aiming at her. If Claudia didn’t know better, she would have thought the key was actually trying to hurt her in particular, since the bolts were not random. But that was ridiculous, it was an inanimate object, wasn’t it?

“There isn’t much I can do while the machine is running!” Helena pointed out as she gestured towards the mass spectrometer they had… requisitioned from another lab, leaving a post it note that said it would be returned soon, “It’s not like I can make it run any faster.” They had tried tweaking the machine to allow tests to run faster, but it hadn’t helped much.

“Then focus that big British brain of yours over here and help me figure out how to turn this thing off!” Claudia yelped as the key shot a bit of electricity at her once more, hitting the book dead center where her face had been.

Helena fussed around the lab, running back and forth until she found a glass case. She dropped it over the key, stopping another attack on the redhead.

“That thing hates me,” Claudia said in a low conspiratorial tone as she shot a quick glance at the key that, now that it was contained, stop shooting sparks.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Claudia,” HG rolled her eyes, “We have to figure out a way to over load it. I mean, we don’t know exactly what _it_ is, but it is clearly electrical. And as with anything electrical, it must have its limits.”

“What do you suggest?” Claudia demanded, “It almost broke my toys when I tried to read it!”

“I haven’t the foggiest… but I think if I just…” Helena trailed off as she reached for the glass box.

“Whoa!” Claudia picked her shield up once more, “What do you think you are doing?”

“Relax Claudia,” HG waved a hand at her, “You and Peter touched it and you’re just fine. You said it helped you solve your problem, correct? I want to see if it can help us now.”

Claudia didn’t object, but her face grew more worried as her roommate carefully lifted the box away from the key. Helena didn’t hesitate, she simply reached out and touched the small object with the tip of her finger. She, unlike the other two, knew what to expect, so she didn’t pull away at the first shock, which felt more like accidently touching the metal prongs of a plug.

It was a rush of energy to which Helena had nothing to compare. When she pulled away, after a moment, numbers and calculations played in her mind, disappearing the scene before her. She had a pad of paper and a pen in her hands before she realized that Claudia handed them to her. She scribbled madly, her normal eloquent handwriting giving away to something Claudia could barely distinguish from scribbles.

When she was finished, she dropped the pen and paper. Her head felt light and she gripped the table behind her to keep herself from falling to the floor. Apparently, the rush had its draw backs. But, to Helena, the moment of absolute clarity had been worth it.

Claudia retrieved HG’s notes and read over them quickly, “Holy frack,” she whispered in awe, “You think this will actually work?”

“I guess you’ll have to figure it out.” HG smiled.

“Me?” Claudia quirked an eyebrow, “What happened to team effort, HG?”

“This is a team,” Helena allowed, “I did the math, you get to do the trial and error.”

“This pretty much static electricity in … in a plastic bag? And you expect me to get it to control that?” she pointed to the key, that sparked in response, but Claudia was the only one to notice.

“I have every faith in you, Claudia.” HG assured her with a patronizing smirk.

Claudia knew there was no point in arguing with her roommate. It was a good way to lose self-confidence and possibly a limb. She had never seen anyone argue with Helena and win, or at least leave with a shred dignity. So the techie didn’t bother, she returned to her own work station, leaving Helena alone with the key.

HG stared at the key for a long time, wondering. The power it held was obviously immense, and the rush? The moment of absolute clarity it provided her? No wonder Walter Sykes had gone mad. She considered all the problems she could solve with the help of the key. Maybe, if she just took it for a little while…

A buzzer noise from behind her pulled her from her thoughts. She shook her head hard, as if she could physically shake the haunting idea. She couldn’t allow herself to do what she had just been thinking of, otherwise she would end up like the crazed student she had taken it from.

She waked to the machine that was demanding her attention. She took the readouts form the printer.

“What?” Her eyebrows drew together in confusion as she spoke, hoping the paper would give her clearer results if she only asked.

She pulled it up on the computer, but that didn’t help either.

She looked at the left over sample under the microscope once more.

None of it served to eliminate the questions that seemed to be building up around this key. Because that is what it was: a simple key. It was made of steel and had traces of brass and street iron. The sample was 250 years old, the only oddity that was found.

“Well how the bloody hell does it work then?” she demanded, shooting another glance over her shoulder.

She sat pondering for a long time at the implications this held. It was only a key. There was no way for it to be able to do the things it did. Its purpose was to unlock doors. Only know, instead of physical doors, to seemed to be opening the doors in people’s minds. As well as electrocuting them, but hey nothing was perfect.

“I think I’ve got it.” Claudia reappeared with a silvery bag in her hand, “We’ll probably have to tweak it a bit more, but for now it should hold it off.”

She hoped so at least as she pulled her goggles over her eyes and put the rubber elbow length gloves on. She carefully lifted the key and quickly threw it into the bag before it could kill her. Brilliant blue sparks erupted from the bag’s opening. It reminded Helena of the first time she was experimenting with cobalt. She hadn’t looked away that time either when she should have.

She cursed as she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“Sorry, I should have warned you that was a possibility,” Claudia mumbled as she closed the bag.

“That would have been nice,” HG growled.

“Did you get the readings?” Claudia asked, hoping to distract her friend, “Do we know what it is?”

“This,” she sighed as she gestured to the now hidden key, “Shouldn’t be possible, shouldn’t exist. It’s just rusted steel, two and a half centuries old.

“Not possible,” Claudia’s smile only grew, “But so awesome. We have to figure it out.”

“How are we supposed to do that, Claudia? It isn’t even following the laws of physics!” HG threw her hands up in frustration, even though she was feeling the same excitement as Claudia. Helena stopped pacing and looked at her roommate.

Claudia recognized that look, and it didn’t always end well, “What? What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking, who better to help us question the physics of such a thing than the resident expert on the matter?” she rose an eye brow.

“Professor Neilson?” Claudia blanched, “You want to drag our physics professor into this? He’s gonna think we’re nuts!”

“Perhaps,” HG allowed, already moving for the door, “But in that case he should have a logical explanation for us.”

Claudia sighed as she followed her roommate from the lab, turning the lights out and locking the door. She fumbled for her keys, thinking she’d have to run to catch up with HG as per usual. But when she turned, she found her leaning on the wall, smiling down at her cellphone.

Claudia rolled her eyes. She had been glad her friend finally showed genuine interest in someone, but now she feared it would only serve to make a distracted Helena.

Myka was equally distracted as she sat on the floor of her room.

She really should have been studying, but her books and papers all lay forgotten around her as she stared intently at the screen of her laptop. This type of frenzy that consumed her only came about because of a puzzle. Especially if it was one she couldn’t solve in a matter of minutes. She couldn’t focus on anything until she solved it.

She was trying to learn more about the boy they had taken the key from. Walter Sykes. She couldn’t get into the school’s data base, so she resorted to Google hunting and Facebook stalking him. She was trying to learn as much as she could, trying to rationalize his actions, leaving rationalizing the key to the two engineering students.

She only found out about Helena and Claudia’s majors when her Facebook stalking of Walter Sykes lead to her investigating the other mystery she found herself in. Helena didn’t have a social media site, but her roommate did. A majority of the redhead’s posts included her friend.

She had to get herself to focus on one thing at a time though, and she closed that tab on her screen. Researching Walter Sykes once more.

She learned that he was a premed student, here on a scholarship. He was from a town close to the college, but didn’t seem to have too many friends. From his recent posts, the boy was clearly stressed about his scholastic standing, bashing his teachers while also freaking out about the tests they were going to give the following week.

Myka hit a wall. She had learned more about the kid, but she felt like it wasn’t enough. She needed to find a way to understand him better.

But for now, she could try and learn more about Helena Wells.

She reopened Claudia’s social networking pages, looking through her twitter feed and tumblr page as well. She learned an uncomfortable amount about the younger girl and the shows she was obsessed with, but next to nothing about Helena.

Myka’s phone chimed. She looked down to see a number she didn’t recognize. Puzzled, she opened the message.

 _“Hello”_ it read simply.

 _“Who is this?”_ Myka typed back.

 _“This is Micah right?”_ the response came quicker than Myka expected it to, she didn’t even have time to put her phone down.

 _“Myka.”_ She corrected as she rolled her eyes at the common mistake, _“Who is this?”_ she tried again, already growing annoyed.

 _“It’s Helena.”_ Myka’s heart sped up as she read the name, _“You wanted me to text you?”_

“Yeah,” she said to herself, “But I didn’t think you actually would.” She didn’t type that though, instead she wrote, “ _Yes did you find anything out about the key?”_

 _“Nothing that helps, I’m afraid.”_ Myka groaned, becoming frustrated with this puzzle, _“We’ve come away with more questions than answers. We are on our way to speak to a physics professor to see if he can help shed some light on our mystery.”_

 _“I’ve been looking into Walter Sykes, but I’ve hit a wall. I can’t get into his records or anything.”_ Myka felt like all of her work was useless.

“ _Perhaps Claudia and I could come by after our meeting with the good professor. The girl is eccentric but she knows a thing or two about computers. We can figure this out together.”_ Myka smiled down at the words and replied without thinking it through first, something she had never done before.

_“Sure. We’re apartment 13 at Fountain Square.”_

“ _Aces,”_ came the reply, and Myka could imagine the word being said in the beautiful English accent, _“Our meeting shouldn’t take longer than an hour. Then we shall be over.”_

Myka smiled, indulging in her excitement for a moment. She didn’t understand her feelings for the other woman, but she knew she wanted to be around her more. And Helena was coming to her apartment.

That’s about when the panic set it. Helena was coming to her apartment.

Myka looked down at herself, the old sweats she’d had for as long as she could remember, the band t she had stolen from Pete’s room their first year of living together. Her hair had hastily been put up in a ponytail and her glasses were hanging at the edge of her nose.

Even worse than her own appearance, was that of the rest of the apartment. It was Pete’s week to do the chores, which meant they hadn’t been done. Usually Myka stepped up and made sure it got done, but the week had been hectic and now she knew there were empty cans, takeout containers and pizza boxes covering the counters, the trash probably hadn’t been taken out, and she was sure there was a load of Pete’s laundry on the couch.

Helena was coming to her apartment and it was a wreck.

Myka threw her head back, “Shit.”


	7. Where There's One...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia and HG knew they could find their physics professor in his classroom even though it was so late. There was a theory going around campus that Arthur Neilson lived in his class room. No one saw him enter or leave, save for into his office that was connected to the lecture hall. He was such a permanent figure in this classroom, people forgot he had only been teaching there for three years.

Arthur Neilson, the short, portly, bespectacled professor who was the most recent addition to the college staff, was stumped. He was staring intently at the white board in front of him, his already wizened face earning more wrinkles as his frustration grew. He was the resident physics professor, specializing in theoretical physics. The college had been lucky to snatch up a professor of his caliber. They didn’t know that most of his references and credentials were false, Neilson wasn’t even his name, but that’s not the point.

He was so close to figuring out how to right it. He was so focused, he didn’t hear the door of his classroom open. He didn’t even know what time it was, to be quite honest. All that existed for him for the last four hours was this equation.

Claudia and HG knew they could find their physics professor in his classroom even though it was so late. There was a theory going around campus that Arthur Neilson lived in his class room. No one saw him enter or leave, save for into his office that was connected to the lecture hall. He was such a permanent figure in this classroom, people forgot he had only been teaching there for three years.

Claudia was about to speak, to redirect his attention to them, but HG held up a hand. Her mouth was moving slightly as her eyes quickly scanned the board. As soon as she was able to get the gist of it, she stopped reading and shook her head. What he was attempting was foolish, but she supposed that was theoretical physics. You only had to say something was possible _theoretically_ , you didn’t actually have to do it.

They gave him a few more moments before finally Claudia could wait no more and cleared her throat loudly. Professor Neilson jumped and turned around, normally he wouldn’t have worried about having to cover his work, but when he saw who it was standing behind him he considered it.

“Miss Donavan, Miss Wells,” he said gruffly, shoving his hands in his coat pockets, “What are you two doing there?”

“Professor, please tell me you are not trying to do what I think you are trying to do,” Helena looked to the board behind him once more, “Time travel isn’t possible.”

Claudia’s nervous face contorted into one of confusion. She had Professor Neilson for physics, the theoretical stuff had a tendency to go over her head, the board just looked like a bunch of made up equations to her. It was suddenly, uncomfortably clear to Claudia that for once, she was the dumbest person in the room. She did not like the feeling.

“Of course it isn’t,” Neilson barked, “That’s why I teach _theoretical_ physics, Miss Wells. Now, stop criticizing my work and tell me why you are in my class room.”

His crazy eyebrows, tendency to yell and berate students mixed with his general grouchy attitude had alienated him from most of his students. But Claudia and Helena found themselves drawn to the old professor. And Arthur held a soft spot for the two students before him now, both showed the greatest understanding of his, the most promise.

“An object at rest stays at rest, correct professor?” Helena began pacing in front of the professor’s desk, “And we assume that energy cannot be created from nothing, there must be a catalyst.”

“What’s this about?” Arthur leaned forward on his desk, squinting his eyes at the agitated Brit.

“We may have… found something.” Claudia spoke finally, eyes darting from Helena to the professor and back again, “It’s not exactly… we don’t know what or how…. Just, look, okay?” Claudia produced the silvery bag from her messenger bag, upended it’s contents on the desk.

It hit the wood with a metallic clink. And when the reverberations stopped, deafening silence over took the room. Arthur quirked one huge eyebrow at the small object, then up at his two students.

“Is some kind of joke?” He demanded, “This is a key.”

“That’s our point professor,” Now Helena leaned on the opposite side of the desk, “It’s just a key. Old steel that’s practically useless now.”

“Could you possibly be less cryptic, Miss Wells?” Arthur demanded, his limited supply of patients already running out.

“Touch it.” HG said suddenly, quietly, but insistently.

“Excuse me?” Arthur pulled back, shaking his head.

“The key,” Helena nodded her head to the object in question, “Touch it, just for a moment, please Professor.”

Arthur looked from the key to the two girls in front of him then back again. “If it were any other two students,” he grumbled to himself as he reached out to grab the key.

For Arthur, there was no flash of great insight to some problem he couldn’t solve. There was only an electric jolt and a sudden clarity on what was before him now.

“Where did you get this?” he pulled back, wanting to be far away from that _thing_ as soon as possible.

They mistook his fear for confusion and worry. The girls looked to one another, wondering how much they should share. It wasn’t like it was exactly legal to knock a guy unconscious in order to steal something from him. Granted, he had been about to attack him, but still.

“We, ah, found it in the library.” Claudia’s statement came out sounding more like a question, and they didn’t expect the professor to believe them for a minute.

But the professor didn’t call them on it. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the key. He was having trouble believing that this was actually happening.

“We ran some tests on it,” Helena blurted out, uncomfortable with the heavy silence in the classroom, it felt like it would suffocate her if she didn’t break it, “Claudia and I we… we took it back with us, we were trying to explain it…” she trailed off as Arthur’s piercing gaze turned on her.

“And?” he prompted with a shout, “What did you find, Miss Wells?”

“We found out that it is a key,” she spoke evenly, “Two hundred years old, made of steel.”

“It is giving off incredible amounts of energy,” Claudia added, though she really didn’t want his attention on her right now.

“But we couldn’t explain it,” Helena shrugged, more interested in Arthur’s reaction than their lack of progress. He seemed angry, yes. But there was something else there… fear almost, he wasn’t having trouble accepting the key like she assumed she would. He only asked where they had gotten it from, not what it was or how it was working, almost like he knew something. “Can you explain it?”

“Not logically.” Arthur snapped, but HG realized that wasn’t really an answer. He leaned forward to grab the key once more, but HG beat him there. Dropping it back in the static bag. It sparked once more, but not as brilliantly as before, but it still startled the professor.

“So there is no logical answer then,” Helena addressed Claudia now, but kept shooting Arthur glances. She was having trouble reading his face and it made her uncomfortable, “At least not one we have yet to think of.”

The professor stayed quiet, seeming to be lost in thought.

“Thanks any way for your help, Professor,” Helena said as she began backing away from the desk, “We shall see if there is anything else we might learn from this mystery.”

“Keep me updated.” Arthur’s voice was authoritative, the request becoming an order.

“Righty-ho then, Claudia,” HG clapped her hands together, “Let’s leave the professor to his work.” She tilted her head at the white board once more and stopped.

Claudia was already walking away, wanting to be far away from this tension filled room as soon as possible. She should have known asking the professor for help would have ended badly. He probably thought they were lunatics.

HG, under the close scrutiny of Arthur, moved to the board, lifting a marker from the podium. Arthur sputtered as she began writing beneath his work, moving to pull her away, but she was already done.

“Physical time travel is an impossibility,” Helena said as she placed the cap on the pen, “But I’ve had this theory that you can transfer a person’s consciousness through time.” She looked at the equation once more with a self-satisfied nod before turning on her heel and following her roommate out.

Arthur stared dumb founded at the neat hand writing that stood in contrast to his own chicken scratch. She was right, her theory could work. The notion only served to anger Arthur more. HE grabbed the water pitcher from the desk and threw it at the board with a wordless, rage filled shout. The glass shattered and the ink bled, Arthur Neilson turned away from his destruction.

“No,” he whispered at first, leaning heavily on his desk, “NO GOD DAMNIT!” he yelled this time, hitting his fist in to the wood with each word. “This is not happening! The Warehouse will not seep in to my new life. DO YO HEAR ME?” he shouted to the rafters, “I AM DONE!”

* * *

Back in the apartment, Myka screamed her own wordless frustration into a pillow before fluffing it and throwing it into the corner of the couch. She became a whirlwind, trying to get the place into some semblance of order before Helena and Claudia arrived.

She began in the kitchen, throwing pretty much everything that wasn’t dishes into a giant black trash bag. She put the plates and cups into the dishwasher. Though it was almost physically painful to not rinse them first, she knew she just didn’t have the time. She moved on to the living room, putting DVDs and video games back onto the shelf, putting the remotes on the end table.

She then had the misfortune of trying to pick up all of Pete’s scattered laundry that he put on the couch to fold earlier in the week, but never got around to it. Unwilling to make more than one trip, she gathered up the pile into her arms, working to pick up stray socks and boxers without dropping more. She burst through her best friend’s door without knocking.

“DUDE!” He shouted in protest as she dumped the laundry on top of him as he lay on the bed, “You crushed my comic!”

Pete shoved his clothes to the floor before trying to flatten the Superman comic’s wrinkled cover. HE looked up to complain more, but found Myka had already left. He left his room, hearing low muttering coming from the kitchen. Jinks stuck his head out from his own room and looked to Pete, raising an eyebrow. Pete shrugged in response.

They both moved to the living room, only to have Myka shove her way between them to get to the kitchen.

“Whoa, kid, what’s the rush?” Pete asked, taken aback by her unusual demeanor.

“Pete, we were born in the same year!” Myka shot over her shoulder before she went back to wiping down the counters vigorously.

“Okay, geeze, my bad!” Pete lifted his hands before shooting a look at Steve that read it was his turn to step in.

“Why are you cleaning at ten o’clock at night?” Steve asked lightly.

“Because this place is a pig sty!” she barked, “I’m living with two over grown children, clearly.” She mumbled, but the boys could hear her clearly.

“O-M-G,” Pete rolled his eyes as he waved his hands in front of him, “What’s the B-F-D?”

Myka sighed heavily, “Claudia and Helena are on their way over.”

“Here?” Steve’s jaw dropped.

“Why?” Pete asked at the same time, eyes widening.

“To help me learn more about that kid today,” Myka fidgeted with her fingers as she looked at the clock on the wall, “And to tell us what they were able to find out about the key.” Myka looked down at herself once more, “Oh God, I gotta change.”

“Mykes!” Pete called after her retreating form, “What are they gonna tell us? How much could they possibly have found out in six hours?”

Myka ignored him as she struggled to find something to wear. I mean, it wasn’t like she could put jeans back on, it _was_ ten o’clock, as Steve had pointed out. So she should be in pajamas. But her choices in that was exactly what she was wearing, something similar, or the matching shorts and tank top set that she hadn’t touched since she bought.

Myka didn’t understand why it mattered what she was wearing any way. Why was she so concerned with what she looked like to the two girls who would be showing up any minute? It wasn’t both the girls, it was HG really, but that realization made even less sense to Myka.

She groaned and put on the matching pajamas. She ran a brush through her wild hair before pulling it back into a more secure ponytail. She didn’t have a chance to look for her contacts when there was a knock at the front door.

Myka decided she would have to try and get away with squinting at everything before she went to let their guests in.

Claudia noticed that her roommate had a strange smile on her face as she shifted from one foot to the other as they waited for their knocks to be answered. But Claudia didn’t comment on it. She also didn’t comment on the way HG’s eyes lit up when the door was finally pulled back to reveal Myka, standing in the door way and looking incredibly uncomfortable.

Myka’s cheeks were slightly flushed, and she was fingering the hem of her shorts that showed off most of the tall girls legs. She stepped aside with a shy smile and gestured for them to enter.

“Hello, darling,” HG greeted as she stepped in behind her roommate.

“Hey,” Myka’s voice betrayed her nervousness as she shut the door.

Thankfully, Pete and Steve saved her from further anxiety as they stepped up and lead Helena and Claudia to the couches.

Helena was confused as she looked around her. The apartment was nice enough, bigger than most college kids could afford, cleaner than her own room at the moment. But she expected… more from Myka’s apartment.

There were clear signs of her roommates in the movies and games, the abandoned controllers and dual game chairs sitting close to the television. There were pictures on some of the shelves. A younger Pete and an adorable looking Myka, HG guessed they were about eleven, playing in the snow. A photo of Steve as a teenager with an older girl wrapping her arm around him. The rest were various pictures of Steve and Pete through high school and their first years of college. The only other picture of Myka was one where she was squished between her two roommates. Steve was smiling drunkenly at the camera, Pete was kissing Myka on the cheek comically, and Myka had a long suffering grin and a quirked eyebrow.

But there was nothing else that spoke of this being her home.

Then again, HG supposed, she hadn’t yet seen the girl’s bedroom…

She shook her head free of the leading thoughts as she realized they were all talking around her. Claudia was left explaining to them some of what they learned about the key. Pete was having trouble keeping up, Steve had a worried expression permanently cemented into his features and Myka seemed enraptured with whatever information the red head was giving her, forgetting all about the ridiculously short shorts she had on.

Helena was having difficulty paying attention, her eyes kept being drawn to the brunette, tracing the length of her toned legs. She was obviously a runner. The way Myka’s green eyes were sparking with curiosity. With her hair pulled away, it left the expanse of her neck exposed, and HG imagined what it would feel like under her lips. And as she leaned forward to better pay attention, it gave Helena a pretty good view down the other woman’s tank top.

She realized she had zoned out again when the sound of her name snapped her back into focus.

“Oh, HG has the key now, right? I thought I put it in my bag…” Claudia was looking through the pouches of her seriously disorganized messenger bag, “But, no, yeah, HG you have the key?”

“Hm?” Helena turned her attention away from Myka, “What, yes, the key. It’s right here.”

She pulled the bag from the pocket of her leather jacket and placed it on the coffee table before them.

“Don’t worry,” Helena said to Steve’s deepening frown, he didn’t like the way Claudia had said the key seemed to dislike her, “It’s perfectly safe I assure you. Claudia designed the bag to stop it from… shall we say, acting up?”

“So you put it in the magic bag and it stopped…” Pete made a short buzzing noise as he waggled his fingers.

“It’s not magic,” Claudia rolled her eyes, “it’s a golden ratio sized neutralizer grid polyethylene static bag. It’s science, not magic.”

“Yes, well,” Pete sat back in his chair, “That, whatever you just said, it is a mouthful, so I am gonna go with magic bag until you come up with a cool acronym for it or something.”

“So, do we know what’s causing it to do that?” Myka aimed her question at Helena.

“Not a clue,” HG said begrudgingly, “The professor was no help, and all our experiments did was leave us with more questions than answers.”

“I’ve got a vibe,” Pete said with all seriousness. HG rolled her eyes and looked at Claudia who shrugged, but Steve and Myka seemed to be taking the boy’s claim seriously, “I think I know what this is.”

“By all means, Mr. Lattimer,” Helena said with false earnest that everyone but Pete could detect, “Tell us your theory.”

It wasn’t that Helena didn’t like Pete. She may have been a bit jealous of him, but it became clear to her that what Pete and Myka had was closer to that of a brother sister relationship than anything. In fact, they acted more like brother and sister than Helena did with her own brother. What she didn’t like were things that were not quantifiable. She liked solving puzzles, and the whole universe was a puzzle to her. And it felt like a cop out when people used the so called supernatural world to avoid figuring out the puzzle.

“I think it’s a poltergeist type deal we’ve got going on.” His voice was firm, and his eyes steady, he actually meant what he was saying.

HG quirked an eyebrow and Myka and Steve’s expressions turned incredulous. Thankfully, a knock at the door saved Helena from saying anything to Pete that would harm the relationship she was hoping to build with his best friend.

The five all looked around at one another for a moment, as if trying to figure out who else would be coming to the apartment. Helena stood up, “My apologies, I forgot to mention that I ordered pizza on our way over here. Claudia and I haven’t eaten all day and I figured the least we could do for intruding on you at this hour was to feed you all.”

Pete’s face lit up like a kid on Christmas as HG moved to the door, “Pizza?” he said hopefully and followed the Brit.

Myka smiled at his distractibility when it came to food.

“You needed help with your laptop, right?” Claudia pulled her attention away from the lilting voice she could hear drifting from the entryway.

“Hm? Yes,” Myka nodded and handing Claudia her computer that she brought out with her when she heard them arrive.

Claudia opened it and began typing away, it was a moment before Myka realized that the techie never asked her for her password. “Dude, this is slower than HG in the morning without her tea. Give me a minute while I get you guys some faster wifi... aaaand there. Hey,” Claudia’s voice rose in pitch as her eyes widened, “Is this my tumblr page?”

Myka looked over quickly, forgetting for a moment just what she had been researching earlier.

“Oh God, you didn’t find my fanfiction, did you?” the redhead demanded in a whisper.

“What? No, sorry,” Myka quickly scrambled for an excuse, “I was just trying to learn more about you, ya know? Like we had this whole ordeal today and it felt kind of weird that I didn’t even know your last name…” Myka trailed off, feeling her blush returning in full force.

She was grateful that the other three were no longer in the living room, but off surrounding the white pizza boxes on the kitchen table, Steve would have called her on her fibbing and Pete would have made jokes and Helena would watch her get flustered…. As it was, Claudia was the only witness, and her look of shock was giving away to one of understanding.

“Oh,” Claudia breathed a sigh of relief, “I understand that, I totally ran a search on you and your roommies. I was surprised Pete was able to get into this school with his GPA.”

Myka laughed as she moved to sit next to the younger girl, “Okay, back on task. Walter Sykes, who is he?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Claudia cracked her knuckles before typing madly away on the keys, her eyes scanning the different screens that popped up.

“Alriiight,” Claudia nodded, “Walter K. Sykes. Premed… 1.98 GPA, no wonder he’s stressing over finals… looks like he’s here on an academic scholarship, so he needs to get his grades up to B’s by the end of the semester or he’ll lose the money. He’s from the valley, Fresno. Went to Bullard… got good grades. But incident reports show he was not well liked.” Claudia shook her head at the incidents of bullying that apparently got swept under the rug. “He’s an only child with no juvie record. There’s not much more to say, this guy is cleaner than I am.”

“So this doesn’t help us figure out what the key is,” Myka sat back, defeated, “Great, back to square one.”

“I’m telling you,” Pete said as he walked over, a slice of pizza going into his mouth as he sat down, “iss plutegshts.” The pizza made his speech mostly unintelligible, but that didn’t stop him from talking with his mouth full.

Helena wrinkled her nose in disgust as she sat down once more on the ottoman, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t understand you over the revulsion I was feeling at the sight of your half masticated food.”

“He says its poltergeists,” Myka translated, “Pete, stop being ridiculous, it’s not ghosts.”

Pete shook his head, as he swallowed the pizza, “Poltergeists aren’t ghosts Mykes. Two totally different things.”

“Please,” HG waved for him to continue, “Enlighten us.”

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Pete leaned forward as he spoke with his hands, “Ghosts are dead people, or whatever right? Poltergeists are totally different. People create poltergeists with their emotions. Like, in a stressful situation, it imprints on their environment.”

“You’ve been watching Dead Files again, haven’t you?” Steve asked from here he was leaning on the back of the couch.

“That’s not the point,” Pete pointed a finger at him, “The point is, what if the person who this key belonged to had such a huge experience that it was imprinted on this key, and that’s why it acts out.”

It made Helena uncomfortable that it actually made sense. But she wasn’t going to be the one to admit it.

“What kind of stress could have happened with a key that’s two hundred years old?” Claudia questioned.

“Don’t ask me,” Pete said as he shoved another slice in his mouth, “thss awl I gat.”

“Wait… two hundred years old?” Myka asked, and HG could practically see the wheels turning in her head, “Lightning… a key… lots of energy? Ringing any bells for anyone else here?”

“Are you referring to Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment?” HG filled in.

“Exactly,” a smile broke across Myka’s face, “High emotional state, and an electrical storm. Now we have a key that could be the very key he used that day that shoots lighting and creates energy.”

“Are we seriously buying into this nonsense then?” Helena quirked an eyebrow at the group at large.

“Do you have any better theories?” Myka challenged her with a smile.

Helena squinted her eyes and pursed her lips, “Not at the moment, no.”

“Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?” Claudia’s voice was full of awe as she spoke, “If what Pete and Myka say is right, then what are the chances that this is the only time that happened? That this is the only strange object with weird powers out there?”

“Where there’s one,” Myka agreed.

“It stands to reason that there are more,” Helena nodded.

The group looked around at their companions, each feeling like the world had suddenly changed, that they barely understood anything they thought they knew.

But for some reason, none of them were bothered or afraid by this realization.

On the contrary, it thrilled them, and they were more than a little curious about what other kinds of things could exist out in the world.


	8. Tests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time ever, Myka Bering was running late.

For the first time ever, Myka Bering was running late.

She had grown up with this idea that being five minutes early was on time, and on time was late. She always woke up early and had gotten her book bag and outfit ready the night before, her notes left out so that she could study a little more on the way.

That clearly was not happening on Monday.

Helena and Claudia hadn’t left until almost three in the morning, the group having got so caught up in talking about the possibilities and impossibility’s all held in one tiny key. Helena and Claudia had resisted Pete’s explanation on the key’s powers, but had yet to come up with a better answer. Myka was uncomfortable with it, but she had yet to see Pete be wrong about a vibe. Steve shrugged, figuring there were things they wouldn’t ever be able to fully understand.

They stayed arguing for hours, until someone bothered to look up at the clock and realize the time.

“You could always stay here,” Myka had offered as she walked her guests to the door, trying to stifle a yawn.

A smirk and a quirked eyebrow was Helena’s initial response, an innuendo forming on her tongue, but she held back, “Another time perhaps.” She said instead with a wink. She loved the blush it caused in the other woman.

Oh yes, Helena could have fun with this if she wanted to.

Claudia saved Myka from further harm by shoving her roommate out the door, demanding either her bed or coffee.

That left Myka to lay in bed awake, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out just what was going on inside her chest, why her heart was thumping against her ribcage, why she couldn’t seem to stop smiling despite berating herself for acting like a total fool every time she got around Helena.

She fell asleep at a quarter to five. She hit the snooze button on her alarm at five thirty. Again at six. At six thirty it finally registered in her head that she was actually supposed to be getting up when that god awful noise came blaring out of the small speakers.

Myka cursed as she stumbled out of bed, tripping on the tangled sheets, and asked no one in particular whose great idea it was to have a seven am class in college. She yanked on jeans and pulled an old hoodie on over her tank top.

As she tugged a brush through her curls with one hand and struggled into her sneakers with the other, she looked around for her contacts case, but quickly gave up.

She shook Pete awake, well mostly awake, and asked where the keys to his truck were. He mumbled some nonsense, and Myka snapped, “PETE! Where. Are. The. Keys!?”

He finally came around enough to tell her they were on the bookshelf and to be back by three so he could go to his own midterm of the day.

She swore as the clock quickly approached Seven and she couldn’t find a decent parking spot in the student lot. When she finally did park, she had to run to the other side of the campus. She burst through the door to her literature class just in time to hear the professor finish giving his instructions. Though he would not repeat them, not even for his brightest student, he did allow her to sit and take the test with everyone else.

She was having difficulty figuring out just what to do with the prompt that had been handed to her.

And though Helena was sitting in her own literature class across the hall way, it wasn’t the essay that occupied her mind. Her mind was far too busy trying to figure out who had been in her room the previous night while she was out.

It wasn’t as if it had been ransacked, things lying strewn about the room. No it was subtle. Anyone else may not have noticed. Helena almost didn’t notice when she and Claudia came stumbling over the threshold.

She was too busy thinking over the night, going over the facts of the curiosity in her pocket as well as the mystery that held her gazing into the dazzling green eyes of Myka Bering. She had hoped that on their invasion of the trio’s personal space they would solve both puzzles. But the key remained a mystery in its powers and ability, and she found herself even more intrigued by the other woman.

While Claudia had Myka distracted on the computer and Peter and Steven were more interested in the pizza she dangled in front of them, HG had slipped away on the pretense of finding the restroom.

She opened each door in turn, quickly closing the door when it wasn’t what she was looking for. The very last door in the hall was Myka’s and when she finally opened it, she rolled her eyes. She should have tried the back bedroom first.

A glance over her shoulder showed that no one had noticed her wandering yet.

HG closed the door before she flipped on the light. She was relived to finally find evidence of the girl somewhere in her home. Photos scattered randomly, featuring primarily Myka and Peter, a few of Myka and another girl who appeared to be her sister. An older gentlemen and woman whom she guessed must be her parents.  Myka standing with her arm around a boy she didn’t recognize.

The photos didn’t hold her attention for long. The bookshelf against the left wall pulled her in. Its shelves bowed under the weight of so many books resting on them. Helena smiled as she ran a hand over the spines that spoke of the amount of times they had been read. Shakespeare and HG Wells were apparent favorites, showing the most wear in the spines. Helena felt a spark of joy upon seeing her great-great grandfathers works among the girls favorites.

She wandered to the desk, without touching anything, she read the notebook that was left open, feeling slight guilt at the act, but it was nothing she could understand regardless. Her writing was beautiful, but it seemed to be an excerpt from some longer work the girl was working on.

She sighed, wishing she could flip through the notebook and understand this girl better, but she knew she was out of time, so she quickly backed out of the room. Her curiosity not sated, but at least she had a quick peak into Myka Bering’s world.

When they got back to the dorm room, Claudia immediately found her desk and began typing madly away on her computer. Helena knew better to ask what it was the girl was working on right now, she wouldn’t get an answer until it was done. Not because Claudia didn’t want to talk about it, but because when she was this deep into her work zone, nothing would reach her.

It left Helena mostly alone to realize something was off about her room. It was never really tidy, because there were more important things usually going on that being sure her bed had military corners. But she still knew exactly how she had left things. Her mattress was no longer skewed slightly to the right, which was how she left it when she lost her phone between her bed and wall. Her notes on the desk were in a straighter pile, and when she opened the drawer, it was obvious someone had rifled through it.

She didn’t know how they had done it, Claudia had set up an airtight system to guard their room while they were out, but she had a pretty good idea what they were looking for. The key felt very heavy in her pocket as she wrote on a sticky note to her friend that she was heading out and stuck it to the side of her laptop.

Helena sighed as she changed into dark jeans and a black sweater. She didn’t want to be noticed if whoever was in her room was still watching, she locked the deadbolt behind her, something she often forgot to do.

She stuck to the shadows, took a winding route, making sure no one was following her. When she finally slipped into her lab, she breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing felt off here, so whoever know about the key, didn’t know about the lab. She tried to figure out who knew. Claudia, Peter, Steven, Helena herself. But also Walter Sykes and Professor Neilson.

She didn’t think it was the Professor, she trusted the grumpy old man. Walter Sykes didn’t have the proper intellect to bypass a system created by her friend.

But that didn’t mean he hadn’t told someone about it. That didn’t mean other people hadn’t already known about the key’s existence. She needed to keep the thing safe, because while she didn’t understand how it got its power, she knew it could be misused if it fell into the wrong hands.

She went to Claudia’s work table and dug around for her notes.

She stared at the equation for the ‘magic bag’, as Peter had so eloquently called it, and tried to figure out a better, more permanent way to deal with the power the key emanated. She wanted to keep the key on her, or at least safe to touch without keeping it in the bag.

She gave an exasperated groan as she turned the bag up and let the key fall to the desk. Without hesitation, she grabbed the key in her left hand and held it. The rush of power she felt nearly overwhelmed her senses. But she focused it as static cracked in her closed fist.

The wrote without stopping to think about it, she only allowed herself to stay focused on the problem at hand, a way to neutralize the key.

It was all a bit of a blur after that. When she finally came to, she was standing over a small vat of purpleish goo. Her hand was out stretched, but had stalled in the act of dropping the thing. She pulled back and slammed the key down on to the desk.

She mumbled to herself as she ran a hand through her dark locks. “Get it together, girl.” She ordered herself, “You don’t need that key, this is ridiculous.”

 _But think of all you could accomplish with its help_. A smooth voice interjected.

“No, no,” she shook her head, “I don’t need it.” She thought of the insane look in Walter Sykes eyes, and wondered if that was how she looked. What if that was how someone found her? One of her friends? Her family?

Her hand gripped the locket around her neck, and that seemed to push the dark thoughts back as its familiar weight erased the feeling of the key in her hand.

She took a steadying breath. She donned the googles, not knowing yet how the key would react to the neutralization liquid. She grabbed tongs, not trusting herself to touch the cold surface of the key again. She slowly dipped the key past the surface, blue sparks erupting rather violently. She lifted the key and repeated the action. Until it no longer reacted and the key was coated in hardening purple material.

She thought to add a rubber cement quality to it. Thin enough that the features of the key were still distinguishable, it looked as if she simply painted it dark purple.

With a sigh, she dropped the key into the palm of her hand, relieved that she no longer felt its addictive effects.

She found a long chain in her own desk, strung it through the hole at the top of the key and let it fall over her shoulders. It was long enough to be hidden beneath most of her shirts as it fell past the locket that usually adorned her neck.

She turned out the lights and locked the door as she left, feeling as if some weight had left her shoulders in the course of the night. The sun was already rising, and she cursed as she looked down at her watch and found she had five minutes to get to her classroom.

If you asked her, she would be unable to tell you anything that was on the test, or her responses to the questions. All she knows for certain, she was the first one done out of the fifty other students in the postmodern literature class.

She walked out of the class in a daze, gripping the locket tightly in her hand, trying to chase the shadows from her mind. Perhaps if she hadn’t been so lost in thought, she wouldn’t have run directly into another equally distracted student.

They fell in a tangle of limbs and swear words.

“Bloody hell,” HG complained as she rolled her wrist.

“I’m so sorry,” Myka replied as she reached for her glasses that had been knocked from her face.

Both women looked up in shock as the voices registered in their ears. A grin spread slowly across HG’s face, and Myka’s face turned bright red as a blush spread from her neck.

Helena’s laugh broke the tension quickly, “It’s quite alright, darling. I was a bit distracted I’m afraid.” She was more distracted now, however, with how adorable Myka looked wearing her glasses as she bit her lip and her eyebrows pulled together.

Myka smiled at the sound as she struggled to her feet, pulling HG with her, “I think I fell asleep was I was walking… are you okay?”

“I assure you, I am quite alright.” Helena was more concerned with the shadows beneath Myka’s eyes as the taller woman tried to stifle a yawn. She realized that not everyone was as used to going a few days without sleep as Claudia an HG were.

HG felt guilty for keeping the girl up half the night, “Would you like to get coffee with me?” She asked before she realized what she was doing, “It’s the least I can do for knocking you over.”

Myka appeared conflicted as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.

“Do you have another test?” HG tilted her head.

“Not until this afternoon.” Myka admitted, and it wasn’t one she had to study for. She was expected to write a short story to show how far they had developed in her creative writing class.

“It would make me happy, then, if you join me in the student coffee shop.” Helena’s voice was low and insistent, her deep eyes sparking but mostly unreadable, and Myka found herself nodding.

“Aces,” Helena smiled, “Shall we?”

Myka was still mostly in shock when she found herself sitting across from the Brit in the coffee shop a few minutes later. Helena was searching for something in Myka’s eyes, causing the other girl to become self-conscious.

She took a sip of her coffee, ignoring that it was still too hot to drink. The pain serving to distract from the whirl of emotions over taking her exhausted mind.

“What?” she finally asked when she figured she had enough control over her voice.

“I didn’t think you had any brothers.” Helena said lightly, recalling the pictures she had seen as well as her comment on her and Peter’s relationship.

“I don’t?” Myka’s statement became a question as her voice rose an octave.

HG pointed a finger at Myka’s attire, “ _Bering and Sons_?”

Myka realized she was wearing the sweater with her father’s bookshop logo on it.

“I don’t have any brothers,” Myka shook her head, her mouth frowning slightly at the corners, “Just parents with wishful thinking.”

“Well, brothers aren’t all that great anyhow,” Helena smirked as she brought her tea cup to her lips, “Far more trouble than they are worth if you ask me.”

“You have a brother?” Myka rested her chin on her hand, her curiosity never took much probing to wake up, and she was very much interested in the woman sitting across from her now. Smart, beautiful, self-assured, and yet she kept up a mask of passiveness for nearly the entire time Myka had known her.

“Yes, Charles,” she nodded, “The apple of my parents’ eye. He could do no wrong as far as they are concerned. They were quite disappointed when I announced I would be studying engineering in America.”

“They didn’t want you to leave?” Myka asked, unconsciously leaning forward.

HG didn’t know why she felt so compelled to tell this woman she barely knew so much, it was a miracle she didn’t blurt out her entire life story under that gaze of hers. She wondered if Myka knew the effect she was having on her.

“They would have preferred me to stay in London, yes. Studied something more akin to what their socialite friends deemed reasonable for a woman of my stature. Perhaps just settled down straight away, start a family.”

“Well, I for one am glad you decided to be rebellious.” Myka smiled as she ran a finger around the lid of her coffee, “Do you mind if I ask a question?”

 _Darling, you can ask me whatever you want,_ HG bit the inside of her cheek to stop those words from tumbling past her lips. Instead she merely nodded.

“I heard Claudia call you HG,” Myka suddenly became very preoccupied fixing the draw strings on her hood, “So that would make your name HG Wells, would it not?”

“Yes,” HG rolled her eyes internally at her silly parents, “My great-great grandfather was the father of science fiction,” she began explaining though Myka hadn’t asked, “My parents thought themselves quite clever in naming me.”

“I like your name,” Myka said with a blush, “And at least your parents didn’t name you out of stubbornness.”

HG rose an eyebrow, encouraging Myka to explain her statement.

Myka sighed, “The doctors told my mother I was going to be a boy, so they picked the name Myka. And when I was born and disappointed them, they stuck to their name choice.”

“Well, regardless of your parents’ obstinacy, I too find I like your name, Myka.” HG smiled, letting a bit of her mask fall as she did so.

And Myka liked it too, as long as it was said by Helena in that melodic voice of hers, “Yeah, it’s grown on me over the last twenty years.”

That earned an unladylike snort from Helena, and they began talking for hours, ignoring the clock, about literature and majors and goals. It was by far, one of the most enjoyable conversations that either woman could remember having. Both were sorely disappointed when the time came for them to part, tests calling for the students to take them.

“Would you meet me here again?” Helena asked as they prepared to go their separate ways, “Tomorrow perhaps?”

Myka nodded with a smile she couldn’t seem to rid herself of, “I have another test at ten, I’ll be here after.”

“It’s a date.” HG smiled and walked away, perfectly aware of the reaction her choice of words had risen in the other girl. She had to keep herself from skipping her way back to her dorm room, the key around her neck and the conflicting feelings it caused all but forgotten.


	9. Leena's and the Red Couch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Myka and Helena spent so much time in Leena’s Coffee Shop and Diner the following days that the coffee shop’s owner always had their drinks ready by the time they sat down, and though they had exchanged little more than pleasantries with the woman who was not much older than they, the pair had quickly become her favorite regulars.

Myka and Helena spent so much time in Leena’s Coffee Shop and Diner the following days that the coffee shop’s owner always had their drinks ready by the time they sat down, and though they had exchanged little more than pleasantries with the woman who was not much older than they, the pair had quickly become her favorite regulars.

 It was a pleasant routine for the two students. They sat in the same booth beside the window, ordered the same drinks, Myka a black coffee with two sugars Helena an Earl Grey tea. The only thing that varied from day to day, was the topic of conversation. Their common fondness of literature could keep them entertained for hours, but it didn’t keep them from talking about other things, politics, school, work, everything and anything that crossed their mind. This easy friendship seemed to develop overnight and in five days’ time, they had both wound themselves so tightly into the other person’s affections, neither could imagine letting the other go.

“So you are a literature major,” Helena said on their Wednesday coffee date, “but are minoring in criminology. How does that work?”

Myka rolled her eyes, “Oh like you are any better? Engineering and literature hardly go hand in hand either!”

“I never said they did,” Helena gave coy smile, “But we are not talking about me. So tell me, Miss Bering, how does one find herself as a literature major and yet still working in criminology?”

“I always knew I wanted to help people,” Myka smiled, “Be great like the heroes and heroines in my books. And if my want to be in law enforcement ever surpasses my love of the written word, I will switch my majors.”

Helena smiled genuinely, apparently happy with Myka’s answer.

“And what of you, Helena?” Myka challenged when she didn’t offer up her own excuse readily, “Why major in engineering and work in all those advanced science classes and minor in lit?”

“I’m an inventor, darling,” HG smirked, “That isn’t limited to only our physical world. I want to invent new worlds, I want to share them with everyone else as the authors of my favorite books have shared with me. That’s why, my dear Myka, I will continue to write.”

“Will you let me read your stories?” Myka asked, leaning forward, mesmerized by the intensity in the other woman’s dark eyes.

“Will you let me read yours?” HG challenged with a smirk, ignoring the voice in her head that stated she already tried reading the other girl’s words without her knowledge.

Myka blushed and averted her gaze, “Oh, mine aren’t very good I’m afraid.”

“Now, I do not believe that for one moment,” HG squinted and shook her head, “I may not have Steven’s abilities, but I certainly can tell when you are lying.” Though she often seemed unsure of herself in speech, from what Helena had read of Myka’s, the girl had a way with words.

Myka shrugged, still not looking up from her hands that strangled her coffee cup on the table, “No one’s ever read any of my work before. I mean, Dr. Vanderlaan reads what I turn in for class, but that’s about it.” The creative writing teacher loved Myka.

The professor had sent her a two paged e-mail parsing her work for the midterm assignment of a short story written in class, asking permission to add it to a portfolio of her best students’ work that she might bring to her publisher. Myka had been apprehensive, but excited, and asked that the professor submit her under a pen name.

“Why not?” Helena asked, honestly curious. It seemed the more HG found out about the curly haired woman, the more she wanted to learn.

Myka looked out the window, a pensive look over taking her normally bright eyes. She was quite for so long that Helena feared she wouldn’t get her answer. But Myka was simply trying to find the proper words to answer with, trying to describe the feeling in her stomach.

“When I write,” Myka began softly, and Helena found herself leaning over the table to better catch her words, “It isn’t words I’m putting out there. Its bits of my heart and soul that I pour on to the paper. It’s my thoughts and feelings that bleed from my pen. And the thought of people reading that… it wouldn’t be like giving them an unadulterated look into my soul, leaving it unprotected and vulnerable. And that terrifies me.”

“But Myka,” Helena smiled and Myka finally met her eyes once more, “You have such a beautiful soul. The world would be such a beautiful place with your words living in it.”

They sat in a comfortable silence, the air charged around them with their proximity, neither realizing just how far they had reached out toward their companion’s side of the table. They were completely oblivious to their surroundings as they locked eyes, that is until a waitress cleared her throat and both woman pulled apart, startled and looking guiltily up.

“Lunch is starting,” she pointed out, “Were you two going to eat something?”

“No thank you… Meghan,” Helena transitioned smoothly to her passive tone of voice and polite mask as she spoke to the blonde, “We’re just fine.”

Helena wasn’t the only one angry at the interruption. Leena had been watching them from behind the counter and nearly threw a cup at the new waitress when she interrupted the moment Myka and HG had clearly been having.

“Damn it,” Myka swore as she caught a glimpse of the clock behind the irked Meghan as the girl walked away, “I’ve got to go anyway, my shift starts in twenty minutes.”

“Your shift where?” Helena asked as she rose, pulling a couple bills from her pocket and dropping them on the table, not bothering to count it out.

Myka struggled to rise as gracefully as her companion, but her legs weren’t cooperating with her at the moment, her mind still greatly focused on the feelings that came from being close to HG as well as the embarrassment of how close her body had actually leaned into her.

“At my, uh, job,” Myka stammered as they waved goodbye to Leena and exited.

“I didn’t know you worked?” Helena tilted her head as they continued to walk through the campus, which came alive during the afternoon, students enjoying the clearing skies and warming day.

 “I don’t have as many shifts this week as I normally do,” Myka admitted, “My boss allowed me time to study for midterms.”

“Where is it you work?” Helena asked when she realized they weren’t headed for the parking lot, and Myka wasn’t exactly saying good bye to her.

“At the, uh, book store on the edge of campus,” Myka waved vaguely in front of her.

HG frowned, trying to remember the layout of the school and the various student stores that littered the college campus, there were a few bookstores, none that she bothered to visit since her school books were mostly ordered online and her personal books she had brought from home.

“The Red Couch,” Myka supplied.

Helena recognized the name. It was a rather eclectic bookstore. Carried bits of everything and most students wandered through it eventually. They went for the books but mostly stayed to talk to the store’s owner. It was well known that the woman who ran the bookstore was a therapist earlier in her life, and she shared that tool without charging the students. Helena had never been a fan of shrinks and had mostly avoided the place on principle, she wondered how Myka had ended up working for the head doctor.

“Why?” she asked before she could stop the word from falling off the tip of her tongue. She had grown so used to just asking the next question when talking to Myka, she was having trouble turning it off most now.

“I’ve got to support myself somehow, scholarships only go so far.” Myka tried not to sound bitter, but she was reminded once more how her parents basically through her out of the nest and yet siphoned money into her younger sisters account so she could goof off in Europe for a year, “This place isn’t exactly cheap and I’ll be damned if I ask my father for one cent.”

Helena felt the urge to hug the girl, if only to see the darkness be lifted from her gaze. But she resisted, trying to back pedal the conversation to lighter topics, she didn’t want to leave Myka on a sour note.

“No, my dear,” She shook her head, “I meant, why of all the places the college could have put you for work experience, did you end up in a book store?”

The ghost of a smile began to play on Myka’s face once more as she shot a sideways look at HG, she appeared almost sheepish in her reply, “I wanted to work in the book store. I actually enjoy working for Abigail. It put my two favorite things together, literature and helping people.”

She tried to explain how much she adored working in the old bookstore. It was like home without all the messy bits of reality. The books welcomed her like old friends, the scent of old pages and ink wrapping around her felt a lot like safety. She supposed she would have been happy in any book store, but she had seen students who were so lost wonder in to The Red Couch and walk through the aisles, looking for something. She had seen the effect the owner had on the patrons who sought her advice. That bookstore changed peoples’ lives, and Myka was proud of the small part she played.

She talked about the good doctor, Abigail Cho, how she had been a psychotherapist, turned photographer turned bookshop owner. And when Myka asked why the huge shifts in the woman’s career, she smiled and said that it wasn’t that much of a leap if one took the time to think about it. Sometimes, a good book was the best kind of therapy that people needed. Myka sensed there was more to the story than that, but she liked the idea the doctor presented. Books certainly had a huge impact on Myka’s life.

HG liked that she was lucky enough to see bits of Myka she obviously kept so close to herself. Every day she learned some new, intricate part of the other woman, and she had yet to see something she didn’t like.

It was a little harder every day for the two to say their good byes and part ways with promises falling so easily from their lips to meet the following day at the same place. Hours after leaving the company of the other, each walked around a bit lighter, a bit happier.

Pete definitely noticed the change in his best friend. She would whistle as she did her chores. She would laugh a little easier, play around a bit more with Steve and Pete. Sometimes, when she was reading, Pete would catch her staring off into the distance above the pages of the worn tome and smile at nothing as she twirled a curl around her finger. He didn’t yet know what it meant, but he had a god vibe about it, and he was happy to see his friend doing more than working and studying all the time.

Claudia also noted a shift in her roommate.

In the three semesters they had been friends, Claudia had, on several occasions, caught HG staring darkly out the window. Anger rolled off of her in waves. Some days it would overtake her and she would lose herself in work, forgetting to eat and rest.  More than once Claudia had been awoken to sounds of Helena softly crying out in her sleep. Her roommate had a dark, cynical view on the world, that Claudia could definitely understand, but she had always hidden it so well behind her quick wit and breezy confidence.

But since meeting Myka, HG had smiled more, genuinely even. When she stared out the window, she had on a dreamy expression. Her remarks on the world, while still greatly negative, had lost some of their bite. She hummed as she tinkered over broken electronics and joked easily with the younger girl. But even more astonishing, at least for Claudia, HG seemed to fret over what to wear each day. She usually held a devil-may-care bravado, carelessly beautiful in the attire she seemed to throw together the last minute before walking out. Never before had Claudia witnessed Helena G. Wells try on and reject four different outfits just to go out for coffee.

Claudia laughed to herself as she texted Steve while reassuring HG that yes, she looked fantastic, no it wasn’t too steam punkish, yes she thought she should go with those boots, no she didn’t think she put too much make up on.

 _Do you see what’s happening here?_ She typed out to her new friend.

 _If you are talking about Myka asking me for my opinion on her outfit then yes. She does know that just because I’m gay it doesn’t mean I understand fashion, right?_ His reply came.

_Lol that may have worked if I hadn’t heard you yell at Pete for erasing Project Runway from the TiVo._

Claudia and Steve were trying to figure out if Helena and Myka knew their own feelings for each other, deciding that it was best if they left it alone for now and allowed them to figure it out themselves. That didn’t mean they couldn’t try and help them along a little though.

“You going to see Helena today?” Steve asked casually Friday morning as he sat through another round of ‘how does this look’ with Myka.

“Yeah,” she smiled unconsciously, “We’re meeting up at Leena’s.

“Shocker,” Steve mumbled too low for Myka to hear, “Pete and I were thinking of Pizza and beer tonight, celebrate the end of tests, if you want to invite her? I mean, Pete’s asking Kelly, I was gonna ask Claudia to come, it would be a bit weird if we didn’t ask HG too, right?”

“That sounds like fun,” Myka smiled, though Steve could see the worry there, “I’ll ask her.”

“Great. And I think that outfit is the best one yet.” He nodded reassuringly.

A nervous excitement filled both HG and Myka as they made their way to the coffee shop separately. HG got there first, as per usual, and spoke to Leena at the bar while she waited, keeping an eye on the mirror hanging on the wall that gave her a view of the front door.

Leena noticed the girls tapping fingers and jiggling foot as she made her way over, the nervous had combing back already perfect hair as her eyes darted to the mirror and then back to the wood of the counter. It would have looked rather suspicious if she couldn’t see her aura, the brightness of hope and joy and excitement all swirling around. But still, it worried the owner to see HG so tightly wound.

“Maybe we should go with Chamomile tea instead of your usual, huh HG?” Leena smiled as she stilled the drumming fingers with a soft touch.

“That might be for the best.” HG smiled ruefully in response.

The tinkling of the bell above the door had Helena spinning in her chair, not needing to look in the mirror to know who it was. Myka’s presence seemed to shift the whole mood of a room, and HG could feel her there before her eyes could even find her.

HG stood and smiled as Myka looked around for a moment, confused when she didn’t find Helena already sitting in their normal spot. When their eyes finally locked, the smile that broke across Myka’s face was bright enough to light all of Helena’s world. She let her gaze wander for a moment over the girl’s attire. Though she found Myka adorable in her normal dress that consisted of mainly t-shirts and jeans, she had to admit she liked what she was seeing now.

The loose white sweater whose buttons HG thought began a little low, though not low enough perhaps, the shorts that showed off those fantastic legs of hers, curls tamed, if only just, and pulled back in a low ponytail, sunglasses pushed to the top of her head to reveal those ever entrancing eyes of hers. HG felt her temperature rise as her heart thumped louder in her ears.

She was having trouble believing one person had somehow gained such control over her body’s autonomic responses. She wondered why it didn’t bother her as much as it probably should have. But there wasn’t room to worry about such things when a happy warmth filled her at the sight of Myka Bering.

Myka also found herself distracted, as always, when looking at Helena. Somehow, in their time apart, Myka always seemed to convince herself that her mind exaggerated the beauty that HG possessed, and every time it seemed to knock her off her feet when she was actually more beautiful than she remembered. It made her self-conscious most days, but today, her nervous excitement kept her from tugging at the hem of her shorts or readjusting the shirt she wore.

“Darling,” Helena greeted Myka with a hug, biting her lip at the sweet scent of the other woman.

They made their way to their table, Leena already approaching with their drinks.

They spoke a little, about how HG had one more test and then she was done, about how Myka had just finished HG’s latest book recommendation, but mostly they sat in a comfortable silence. They liked to people watch out the window sometimes, make up stories for the students and professors who rushed by, and they played that game for a little while, a clear argument between a student and a faculty advisor spurring on this huge, tangled story about a love tryst that went wrong and was to end in the untimely demise of a third party. The girls dissolved into barely contained giggles that had a few patrons shooting them glances.

When they lapsed once more into quite enjoyment of company, Helena noticed Myka rubbing the back of her neck, a nervous habit she wasn’t sure Myka knew she had.

“What’s on your mind, darling?” Helena asked after a moment of watching the other girl worry her lip between her teeth, it was terribly distracting and if HG didn’t somehow get her to stop soon she was going to do something irrational.

“Well,” Myka began, focusing more on her coffee, tilting her head left then right as if she had a kink in her neck, “Pete has decided that the end of midterms calls for celebration, seeing as he actually passed them all. Just pizza and beer at the house, a couple of people over, maybe. And I was wondering if you’d maybe like to come? If you weren’t busy that is.”

HG loved the pink tinting that appeared in Myka’s cheeks, it was maddeningly adorable.

Helena made a big deal at pretending to actually think it over, “Well,” she drug on the sound of the last consonant, “I suppose since I’ve had no alternative offers for the evening, I am inclined to accept your invitation to the nights festivities.”

Myka grinned, visibly exuberant at Helena’s words. “Excellent,” she nodded, looking up briefly to see the smile on Helena’s face. But as always those eyes sparked a warmth in Myka that she didn’t understand, and she looked away before the shorter woman could make her blush once more.

“I’m afraid I must be off now,” Helena sighed heavily as she looked down at her watch, “Professor Neilson’s fondness of me will most likely reach its limit if I am late for his class.” There was an unspoken _again_ at the end of her sentence and Myka smiled.

“I’ll see you tonight then?” Myka said, eyes sparking and voice full of hope as she looked up at Helena.

“I wouldn’t miss it.” HG assured her with a wink before walking away.

Myka noticed that she wasn’t the only one watching Helena saunter away. Lust filled gazes followed her, causing a spikey feeling in Myka’s throat that she took a moment to identify as jealousy.

It was stupid to be jealous, Myka thought to herself, it wasn’t as if she had some claim on the other woman, other than friend. And, she had to admit, when Helena wore those sinfully tight jeans, it made it sort of difficult not to watch the way her hips swayed.

Leena watched with a knowing smile from her spot behind the counter as Myka smiled down at the table and traced patterns on to the scuffed up surface.

Budding love was truly a thing to behold.


	10. A Ping, Darling?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HG felt her smile grow wider as she shook her head, this clearly had grown from what Pete had originally intended. There was more alcohol then Helena remembered there being before, and there was a leaning tower of pizza boxes on the counter, so at least the last minute additions had brought stuff with them. It was on the chaotic borderline of a hang out with friends and a full blown party, and the air was electrified with the possibility of the scales being tipped soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter in which I quote Joanne Kelly, gold stars to anyone who finds it. And I have no idea what happened to this chapter, but the green eyed monster makes an appearance.

Helena quirked an eyebrow at her roommate as they stood outside the door of Myka’s apartment. They could clearly hear music playing and laughter coming from inside. Claudia rose a hand to knock, but froze, instead moving to open the door herself.

There was at least twenty people standing around the apartment, scattered in the kitchen and living room. Helena recognized only four of them initially, the three roommates and the guitar player that Claudia had flirted with the week previously at the dorm party.

HG felt her smile grow wider as she shook her head, this clearly had grown from what Pete had originally intended. There was more alcohol then Helena remembered there being before, and there was a leaning tower of pizza boxes on the counter, so at least the last minute additions had brought stuff with them. It was on the chaotic borderline of a hang out with friends and a full blown party, and the air was electrified with the possibility of the scales being tipped soon.

As they walked through the crowded home, Helena was greeted by people she vaguely recognized, but she only had eyes for one person. And she was currently standing in the kitchen with her arms crossed and an uncomfortable smile on her face.

Pete had told Myka that he invited a few people. She should have had enough sense to remember how kickbacks at Pete’s usually ended in high school. It wasn’t a real party if you could name every person in attendance.

Well, if that were the case, Myka could classify this as a party. She recognized Kelly and Liam aside from her friends, and that was it. She had no idea who anyone else in her home was. She’d had the good sense to lock her door, but now that meant she couldn’t retreat to her books. She was determined to not be that person anymore. She didn’t want Helena thinking she was a recluse. Though she supposed standing apart from everyone, her arms crossed, wasn’t making her a social butterfly either…

“Hello, darling,” the words curled around the accent so beautifully, Myka was smiling before she looked up from the boots that entered her field of vision as she stared at the floor.

“You came,” Myka was embarrassed at the way her own voice sounded in her ears in comparison to Helena’s and she cleared her throat.

Helena shrugged, “There was nothing exciting happening in the dorms, so I thought I might check in here.”

“I’m glad you did,” Myka faught a smile as a blush crept over her face.

“Mykes!” Pete’s voice pulled Myka back, forcing her to realize, yet again, how close she and HG had gotten, “Mykes! Help me out here!”

Pete waved her over to a long table that he was struggling to set up. Myka rolled her eyes back to Helena, but whatever warmth there had been was replaced yet again by a polite mask. Myka was really starting to hate the mask that hid from her the woman she was beginning to know.

Myka slid over the counter, not wanting to have to shove her way past two of Pete’s friends who were shot gunning beer. If she hadn’t taken her eyes off HG, she would have seen the flash in the inventor’s eyes at the sight of Myka’s shirt rising to reveal her torso as she pulled herself up on the counter top.

 It took Helena a few moments to regain control of her thoughts. When she did, she pushed her way past the boys leering suggestively at her. If she noticed it, she didn’t give it away. Helena had long since grown used to the effect she had on people.

She noticed Claudia wasn’t with her then, but before she could get frantic, she found her roommate standing at the opposite end of the table from Myka and Pete, laughing and turning to beckon her over.

“What is this?” Helena inquired as she watched them arrange groups of red cups full of beer on the table.

“Beer pong,” Claudia’s tone suggested that this should have been obvious as well as exciting, “Pete and Myka want to play doubles, be my partner in crime?”

“I don’t know the rules,” Helena admitted as she moved to stand beside the redhead.

“It’s easy,” Myka rolled her eyes from the other side of the table, and Helena sensed a challenge arising, “Ping pong ball,” she held up the small object, “Cups of beer. The goal is to try and throw it into one of our cups. If you make it we drink that cup. If we make it, one of you has to drink the cup.”

“But since I am abstaining from alcohol for the evening,” Pete seemed proud of his usage of a three syllable word, “Myka will be drinking all of our cups. So, since Claudia is the furthest from 21, HG, you get to drink the cups made on your end.”

Neither woman was particularly thrilled about this rule, but their pride wouldn’t let them back down now.

“There are some other house rules,” Claudia interrupted the stare off Myka and HG seemed to be having, “But I’ll let you know when they come up.”

“You guys go ahead and start,” Pete rolled the ping pong ball across the table, and Helena caught it just as it rolled off the edge.

“Aces,” she smiled wickedly.

Looking back, Pete figured challenging two engineering students to beer pong was not his brightest idea. The only advantage that Pete and Myka had over the other two was their familiarity with the game. But when it came down to Myka and Helena each with one cup left, Helena was the only one to sink it.

The hadn’t realized the audience they gained, people wandering over at the sound of the witty remarks being thrown back and forth across the table by the two attractive girls locked in what could have been perceived as an intense competition.

“Yes!” Helena shot her fists in the end, turning to give Claudia a double high five. Groans and exclamations of victory rolled through the crowd, a bet had sprung up on which side of the close game would end up the winner.

Myka smiled and nodded, conceding her defeat and HG winked at her. They lost each other, moving out of the way for the next quartet playing. Myka had done her job as co-host by starting the rounds of beer pong, mostly grateful that left Steve to play kings cup*. Myka still had flashbacks to when she played last.

Before she had a chance to find Helena, a boy stepped in her path. Well, not a boy, she discovered as she looked over his handsome face. Because sure, the messy hair and heart throb grin were cute in a boyish way, the stubble and smoldering look in his dark eyes labeld him a man in Myka’s mind.

She pulled up short for a moment when he smiled at her, “You’re Myka, right? Pete’s roommate?”

“Yes?” her voice squeaked and she wished a refrigerator would fall from the ceiling and crush her on the spot, her death would save her from embarrassment. She wondered if she would ever be able to talk to attractive people and keep her normal tone of voice.

“I’m Jeff Weaver,” he held out his hand, his smile dimpling, “I’m in Pete’s political science class. He’s a big help in class.”

“Pete? Lattimer?” Myka quirked an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder at the boy in question, “I’m sorry, the guy’s my best friend and everything but I’d never describe him as a big help in class.”

Jeff’s laugh was so carefree it pulled a smile from Myka, and she began to relax, though that may be due to the amount of alcohol her game of beer pong lead her to drink, “No, but he makes the class bearable most days.”

“He is good at that,” Myka agreed, “He makes the most boring classes fun.”

“Funny, he said the same about you,” He smiled, “So are you two, ya know, together or whatever?” he seemed to have a tough time choosing his words now.

“No,” Myka laughed, waving her hands in front of her, “He and I are just friends. Why does everyone always think we are dating?”

“Maybe because it’s hard for us to believe that a girl as beautiful as yourself is still single.” He said it so charmingly and earnestly that Myka actually giggled.

“And what’s your excuse for being single?” Myka challenged, “Surely a guy such as yourself has had his fair amount of opportunities.”

“Maybe I’m waiting for the right one.” He retorted, crossing his arms in false indignation.

“Oh? Any candidates?” She wondered where her sudden self-confidence came from, whose voice was that and whose words? Surely they weren’t hers?

“There might be.” He allowed, his grey eyes sparking.

Myka laughed again, but shook her head, “Excuse me, I think I need a drink.”

He nodded, “I’ll be here if you get bored of talking to all the cool people.”

Myka bit a laugh back at his self-depreciating humor as she made her way to the kitchen. She was pulled up short as she grabbed a Smirnoff from the icebox when she heard a distinctive laugh.

 She looked over the counter, standing five feet from where Myka had just been talking to Jeff Weaver, was Helena, heavily flirting with a frat boy. He was grinning broadly as his eyes racked over HG’s body, she was touching his chest and speaking low, too low for Myka to hear, but she could guess the words that went with the tone and look in her eye.

White hot jealousy shot through Myka at the sight. She was insanely envious of the boy leaning over her, and before she could do anything she may regret, like make a fool of herself by shoving him away from her, Myka twisted the top of her drink off and downed the contents, flinching at the slight burn before grabbing another bottle.

It was then HG looked up and saw Myka’s darkened eyes on her. Helena simply winked before laughing at something her companion whispered to her.

She was doing it on purpose! Or was she? That didn’t really make sense to Myka, why would Helena be flaunting her flirtations to get under her skin? More importantly, why was Myka jealous? Hadn’t she decided that afternoon that she had no grounds to be jealous?

But Myka’s intoxicated brain wasn’t having any of that logic nonsense, instead, she took her drink and went back to find Jeff, Helena wasn’t the only one who could flirt with cute boys, and she was determined to prove it.

Helena had noticed Myka talking to Jeff the first time, and the sound of her laugh and easy giggles had translated to a twisting feeling behind her rib cage. And she reacted in the only way she knew how, by manipulation. She had never had trouble getting what she wanted, but Myka seemed to throw her off her game without even trying.

So HG grabbed the nearest boy and started laying it on thick, ignoring the look of indignation she received from the girl she stole him from. She was good at making people like her, her confidence, good looks and quick wit serving to destroy pretty much anyone she decided to focus on. And of course the accent didn’t hurt.

When she noticed Myka staring at her from the kitchen, a shocked look on her face as she gripped the neck of her bottle tightly, Helena felt a vindictive joy at finally getting the girls attention, she was quickly growing bored of the boy in front of her- Thomas or Timothy? Something with a T- and she wanted to turn her sights on Myka now.

But the brunette had marched back to where she was standing previously. Helena watched as Myka leaned closer to the taller boy, holding on to his arm as she laughed lightly. When he tucked an errant curl behind Myka’s ear, Helena saw red.

Myka turned to look over her shoulder, a mischievous glint in her eye as she smiled slowly at Helena.

Was she _trying_ to make her jealous? Helena ignored the fact that she had been doing the same exact thing moments earlier, only angry now that Myka had started.

 _Well,_ She thought as she left Thomas/Timothy to find another target closer to where Myka stood, _two can certainly play that game, darling._

Steve noticed what was happening and nudged Claudia. He had stuck close to the techie for the evening, trying to avoid talking to Liam, not wanting to have another “for old time’s sake” moment with his ex. Claudia looked up from Dwayne, he had been in the middle of trying to explain his band’s admittedly awful name when Steve poked her.

“Do you see what’s happening here?” He asked, repeating their earlier conversation.

Claudia’s quick eyes scanned the crowd of college kids until she found her roommate, draped over some pour shmuck that probably thought he was actually going to get lucky that night. Then, a few feet away, she saw Myka laughing drunkenly and touching a seriously attractive kid. But what made her groan was the fact that the girls were obviously playing it up for each other, trying to incite jealousy.

“This is getting ridiculous.” Claudia shook her head before turning back to Dwayne, “Give me a moment would ya? I have to go do damage control before there is bloodshed in the living room.”

She pat Steve on the shoulder as she stood, “Don’t you try and steal him from me, I’ll be right back.”

“Not my type, Claud!” Steve said to her back as he tried to hide his blush.

“I’m not your type?” Dwayne feinted hurt as he looked up at Steve with exaggerated puppy dog eyes.

“No because I’m his type, right Jinksy?” Pete punched his shoulder as he walked up.

“I’m going to kill Claudia.” He swore, both for the awkward situation and for introducing the nickname to his friends.

Claudia yanked HG away from her current toy. Normally, Claudia wouldn’t have had the strength, but she caught her roommate off guard and was able to get her to the kitchen.

“What the bloody hell?” HG demanded, yanking her arm out of Claudia’s tight grasp.

“Yeah I could ask you the same thing, HG,” Claudia put her hands on her hips, “That was some high school bull shit back in there, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” HG grit her teeth, eyes turning hard as she looked away from the redhead.

“Don’t pull that with me, I have seen the way you look at her HG,” Claudia took a breath as she prepared herself for what she was going to have to do, “Look, I know you are into this girl, or whatever, but what I hear from Jinks is that Myka isn’t gay.”

“I like a challenge.” Helena smirked as she looked over her shoulder at the now clearly inebriated Myka, but all she saw was her hand running over Jeff Weaver’s arm.

“No, HG, bad.” Claudia shook a finger at her, “You can’t think of Myka like that. I see that she means a lot to you, but I can also tell that you won’t be able to play her like you normally do.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” HG asked, taken aback.

“Okay, HG, here’s the thing,” Claudia felt like the older of the two of them for once, it was odd since HG usually did the whole mother hen thing to her, “If you like this girl, even as just a friend, you can’t play on her confused feelings like this. It’s just going to end badly if you keep doing this.” She waved vaguely back to the party behind them.

“What do I do?” Helena asked, for once feeling out of her depth.

“For starters you could be the friend she thinks you are and save her from sleeping with Captain I’m So Ruggedly Handsome Look At Me,” Claudia finally got a smile out of her friend.

“Righty-ho then,” She turned on her heel, ignoring the boy trying to regain her attention and walking straight to Myka’s swaying form.

“Helena!” Myka pulled back slightly, at the sight of the raven haired Brit suddenly at her side, a determined look in her eye, she tried to regain her balance, but was having difficulty keeping her eyes focused properly, she used the excuse of introducing Jeff to HG so that she could lean on the both of them.

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Weaver,” It took a great deal of self-control to keep up her tone of civility, “Myka, my dear, I’m afraid you have had too much to drink.”

Myka could hear the concern in Helena’s voice, but she was still mad at her. Though she couldn’t seem to remember why, and staring into her warm brown eyes was not helping the situation. Myka realized she was expected to reply, but she wasn’t sure how to, so she gave a vague shrug nod that caused her to become dizzy all over again.

Helena caught her before she could fall, “Alright, to bed with you, then.”

Jeff looked sorely disappointed, “Could I at least get your number, Myka? I’d like to see you again.”

HG cut off Myka’s reply, “How about you give her your number and she shall call you?”

“Awesome,” he nodded, “Yeah, hold on.” He looked around, pulling a note pad from beside the phone and began writing madly, “Here.” He smiled and handed Myka the paper with his number written on it.

Myka giggled as she pocketed the note, “Mkay, goodnight, Jeff, I’ll call you.”

HG’s jaw hurt with how hard she was clenching her teeth. She smiled once more to the boy before leading Myka down the hall to her room.

“You are a way better wingman than Steve and Pete,” Myka told her once they were alone.

“My pleasure,” HG rolled her eyes. “Is this how we are going to spend every Friday night? Me pulling you away from some college boy, intoxicated beyond reason?” Helena huffed as she tried the door.

“Ss locked.” Myka explained when HG couldn’t twist the door handle.

She giggled when Helena rifled through her pockets to find the key.

HG deposited Myka on the bed gently, removing her shoes for her, then her shorts and sweater. She recited the Illiad in original Greek in her mind to keep herself distracted from the mostly naked and giggling Myka who was complaining about being tickled and cold hands. She rummaged through the girls dresser before pulling out pajamas and helping her get them on. She then gave a sigh as she pulled the blanket up around the brunette. “Goodnight, Myka.”

As she turned though, Myka’s hand shot out to grab her wrist, “Wait, hold on, I have to talk to you. I have to apologize.”

Her drunken slurs were becoming more intelligible as she struggled to sit up. In the darkness of her room, Myka could only just make out HG’s features, but she appeared to be very tired.

“Myka, you have nothing to apologize for,” Helena protested, but allowed herself to be pulled onto the bed.

“No, I have to. I was being petty earlier, but I really like being your friend,” Myka shook her curls, trying to think through the sudden urge to sleep, “Even though we’ve only known each other a week, I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.”

“I find myself quite fond of you as well,” HG smiled.

“But why?” Myka tilted her head, “Because you’re so beautiful and lovely and sophisticated and- I’m like the opposite, ’cos I’m like fumbling and awkward and like, you know, that’s how I feel, anyways, you know what I mean?”

HG shook her head with a small smile, “You do not see yourself clearly enough, Myka. You are one of the best people I have ever had the pleasure of calling my friend.”

Myka smiled and seemed to waver a bit, a silent argument waging on her face. She seemed to give up though as she lay back against the pillow. HG rose to leave once more, but Myka held on to her hand.

“Will you stay with me?” Her voice was small as she asked, causing HG to believe she expected to be refused, “I know I drank a lot, and I’m loopy, but will you stay? Just until I fall asleep? Then you can go back out to the party?”

Helena was going to kick herself in the morning, but she found herself smiling and agreeing none the less, “Of course, darling.” It wasn’t as if she could ever deny Myka anything she wanted.

Myka smiled like HG had just made her whole day. She shifted herself over and tugged Helena down to lay next to her.

Myka gave a sigh of contentment, “I’m really glad I ran into that shelf in the library.” She mumbled.

Helena chuckled softly as she slowly ran her fingers through Myka’s curls, smoothing them back behind her ear. Myka smiled at the touch, unconsciously pulling herself closer to HG. The Brit continued the action of softly stroking her hair long after she had fallen asleep, hoping to erase the touch Jeff had put there earlier in the evening.

“I wish I had met you before…” HG whispered, “But I am so glad I know you now.”

Helena fell asleep sometime after she heard Pete yell to his guests “Okay, three am, party’s over. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here!” he’d always wanted to say that and he shot a grin to Steve who just rolled his eyes.

Claudia ignored Pete ushering people out, apparently his girlfriend leaving lowered his tolerance to the others in his apartment, but he wasn’t making her go. Pete liked the kid, and he knew both she and HG had been drinking, so she was going to be couch surfing for the night. Well, if she and Steve ever stopped talking in hushed tones.

“What’s up?” Pete asked as he approached the sofa they were sitting on.

“Nothing,” they said simultaneously with identical looks of guilt plastered on their faces.

Pete looked at them, glaring for a moment, before finally shaking his head, “I’m too tired for this.” And walked to his room.

After they heard the door shut, Jinks and Claudia began speaking again, keeping their voices low.

“So, she’s still in there?” Steve asked.

“Unless she went out the window, then yeah.” Claudia nodded.

“You know we can’t force them to recognize their feelings for each other.” Steve sighed heavily. He had only known Myka two years, and HG for one week, but even to him it was becoming obvious the girls had something between them, though for now it remained unspoken.

“No, but we can give them a little nudge here and there.” Claudia winked and Steve rolled his eyes.

* * *

Myka woke up, feeling strangely well rested, especially for someone who had been up half the night drinking.

It all crashed back on to her suddenly, and she brought her hands up to cover her face. She could feel the heat beneath her fingertips. She remembered what she did, but she couldn’t recall her reasoning behind it, teasing Helena by flirting with Jeff in front of her, getting angry when she retaliated. Most of all though, she remembered how she had dressed her in pajamas before Myka had pathetically begged for Helena to stay with her until she fell asleep.

She groped the sheet beside her where Helena had been and found it cold. Disappointment flooded her, and for a moment she thought she might actually cry. But that’s when she noticed the Yellow post-it note stuck to a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin.

_Thought you might need this –HG_

The script was beautiful, and it was difficult for Myka to believe that people still wrote like this anymore. She popped a few pills and downed the water before exiting her room, the smell of coffee drawing her out.

Even though it was still relatively early, Myka was the last one in the apartment awake. She was shocked to see Claudia on their couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, typing away on her laptop. Steve and Pete were deeply enthralled in some shooting game on the Xbox and she heard beautiful humming drifting form the kitchen.

“I’m still sleeping right?” Myka said allowed as she moved to where she expected to find the source of the music and coffee.

“No, but it’s about time you woke up.” Helena smiled as she sipped coffee from a mug, leaning on the counter as if she belonged there, “I was a bit surprised when Peter woke up before you did.” She handed Myka a second steaming mug, prepared the way Myka liked it.

“Thanks,” She hid her blush behind the cup, “I… is that my shirt?” she asked, when she recognized the blue button down HG had on.

“My apologies,” Helena smiled, “I didn’t expect to stay the night, so I had nothing with me to change into. I probably should have asked first…”

“No it’s okay,” This all felt so surreal for Myka. HG wearing her clothes, making her coffee… it was all rather domestic and caused a fluttering in her stomach.

When she finally took a sip from the cup of coffee she sighed like a true caffeine addict, “Beer pong, writing, inventing, making coffee… is there anything you’re not good at?”

HG smiled and shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. At least, I haven’t had any complaints about my skills thus far.”

Myka nearly spit her coffee back into the cup as she heard the double entendre she wasn’t sure Helena meant.

A call from Claudia saved Myka from having to respond.

They joined the three in the living room, where Claudia was bouncing with nervous energy, clearly already over caffeinated.

“Okay, Pete, Steve, focus over here for a minute.” Claudia kicked at the backs of their chairs, causing Pete to die a gruesome death by zombie.

He pouted for a moment before turning off the console and turning around.

“Okay, so you know how we figured the key we found, whatever it is, that there was probably more than just one of it right?”

They nodded for her to continue.

“So I built a program to track… weirdness.” She made a gesture with her hand that no one could really interoperate, “But I didn’t know what we would be looking for, I mean it’s not like all of these… things shoot lightning bolts, right? So I programmed it to gather textual, visual and aural data from the internet via news outlets, crime reports, social networks and all that jazz. It tracks anomalies.”

“Okay, and?” Helena asked, “Does it work?”

“Yeah,” Claudia turned back to the laptop with a half surprised snort, “It gave me three pings in California alone.”

“A ping, darling?” HG rose an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah, that’s the sound it makes when it finds a possible anomaly. Ya know, _ping_.” She tried to imitate the noise.

“So you actually found three things that work like the key does?” Myka asked, looking over the girls shoulder and staring at the mess of code and satellite images on the screen.

“Yes, and I was thinking,” Claudia’s excitement and nervousness was growing, “Since we have the week off for spring break, why don’t we take a little road trip? Do some Scooby Dooing and check it out?”

“Isn’t that a little dangerous, Claud?” Myka asked, “I mean, one of these things already tried to kill us once.”

“Oh, you’re over reacting to a bit of static,” the redhead waved her off, “Besides Mykes, where’s your sense of adventure? Don’t’ you want to know if these things actually exist? That it’s not just an isolated incident?”

Myka still seemed a bit torn, so Claudia fixed her gaze on the others.

“I’m game,” Pete smiled, “Beats going back to Colorado Springs for the week.”

“I guess it could be fun,” Steve nodded, “Sure, why not?”

Claudia turned to her roommate, but she didn’t have to worry, she could practically feel Helena’s excitement at the possibilities rolling off of her, but she kept her passive mask up as she gave a shrug, “Not like I have anything better to do over holiday.”

They all looked at Myka expectantly. If it had been just Steve and Pete, she was sure she would have said no, but the look in Helena’s eyes let her know she was going to give in anyway. And besides, she really was insanely curious about the key and these other things Claudia had apparently found.

Myka made a big deal about sighing heavily, “Oh alright.”

“Sweet!” Claudia high fived Pete.

Helena smiled excitedly at her, grabbing both her hands in hers, “This is going to be excellent.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> King’s cup is a drinking game where everyone sits around the table, a deck of cards spread around and one empty cup in the middle. You have to do ridiculous things and drink depending on what card you draw. But if you draw one of the first three kings, you dump whatever is in your cup into the “king’s cup” the last king drawn has to drink the whole king’s cup.( I usually have the misfortune of pulling the last king)


	11. My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit, I have lived forty-five minutes from Monterey Bay, CA my entire life, and yet I know next to nothing about it, so in these next few chapters, everything I say about the place I gleamed from twenty minutes on google.

By ten in the morning on Monday, they had the rented suburban packed up and ready to go.

Myka had run out of excuses to back out of the road trip when she called Dr. Cho on Saturday to ask for the week of spring break off. Abigail had sounded thrilled, that she was planning on closing the shop for the week any way since most of the students would be gone. She encouraged Myka to have fun and not to worry.

Monterey Bay was their first stop.

The two and a half hour drive seemed incredibly short to the students, who spent the time laughing and fighting over the radio. Pete drove with Steve up front, having beat Claudia in saying shotgun. The three girls sat in the second row, Helena in the middle since Myka wanted a window seat, and she wanted an excuse to press her leg against hers. The contact made Myka blush at first, but she didn’t pull away, she liked the feeling.

Claudia was trying to explain to HG why her last joke was so funny, but stopped when she realized her roommate wasn’t listening.  Helena had a small smile on her face, her eyes gleaming as she stared at Myka. The brunette practically had her nose shoved up against the window as the ocean finally came into view, a look of pure wonderment on her face.

“You know, I’ve never seen the ocean?” Myka said, her voice sounding like a kid on Christmas, opening the best present.

“You don’t say?” Helena chuckled.

“Yeah, I’ve been living here for almost two years, but I never went with Pete or Steve when they go.” Myka looked back to HG, blushing slightly, “But I guess that’s obvious, right?”

Helena just smiled wider. She thought it rather adorable how excited Myka was getting, she was glad then that she booked the hotel she did. HG couldn’t wait to see the look on Myka’s face when they arrived.

Now it was Helena bouncing up and down in excitement as she continued to speak to Claudia and Myka rejoined her abandoned conversation with Pete, talking about people they used to know in high school. HG was giving directions without having to think about it much, but it suddenly seemed as if the winding road was lengthening beneath the tires now that their destination was approaching.

“Okay,” Pete was saying as he turned down the last road, “We’ll check in, Claud will give us the deets on the weirdness while we pig out, because I, for one, am starving-,”

“You just ate four hamburgers!” Myka interjected incredulously, “And most of my fries, might I add…”

“That was like an hour ago Mykes, the Petester needs his fuel.” He insisted.

“I don’t think it will ever cease to amaze me how much food you consume in a single day,” Helena shook her head.

Pete’s comeback was stolen from his lips as he pulled into the parking lot of the beautiful hotel.

A Bellhop took their luggage as a vale took the car, leaving Pete, Steve, Claudia and Myka to follow behind HG’s sure stride. As she made her way to the check in counter.

“Pete don’t touch anything,” Myka said without looking to her friend, who had, in fact, been about to touch a vase.

“How does she do that?” Pete mumbled forlornly as he pulled his hand back to his side.

Helena smiled as she rejoined the rest of the group, who had stopped in the middle of the lobby, “Shall we?” she gestured toward the elevator.

“Okay look,” Claudia says finally as the elevator doors shut with them inside, “We’ve been living together for a while now, and I never asked before because, well, I figured that’s your business or whatever, but where do you get all this money from?”

Helena smirked but didn’t respond as she pushed the button for the top floor.

“Seriously, are you a trust fund kid or something?” the techie pushed on.

Steve elbowed Claudia and gave her a look.

“Heavens no,” HG chuckled, but there was no humor in it, and Myka looked at the strange expression on her friends face from the corner of her eye, “While I could have lived comfortable on an allowance from my parents, I have made many decisions that they do not agree with, only one of which was coming to America to study engineering. Even if I wanted to ask my parents for help, it’s safe to assume I’ve been cut off.”

“Okay,” Claudia shook her head, “But dude, we are in college, we are supposed to be broke, but you always seem to be rolling in it.”

HG quirked an eyebrow at the expression, but continued to indulge her roommate, “I may have sold an invention or two in my day to a few big companies. But I have also signed a nondisclosure. It seems they do not want their competitors to know one of their break through products was designed by a bored sixteen year old girl.”

The elevator dinged and Helena exited, leaving Claudia to stare dumfounded and immobile until Steve shook her.

HG opened the door to their suite with a flourish.

There were several gasps. Claudia and Pete moved to each of the rooms excitedly, jumping on two of the beds like children. Steve stood in the middle of the front room, looking around and shaking his head with a slow smile, “This is bigger than our apartment.”

But HG wasn’t interested in them, she was far more focused on the awestruck expression on Myka as she slowly walked, as if in a trance, to the far wall that was almost entirely glass.

The hotel backed right onto the ocean, and it was a sight to behold, Helena had to admit, but nothing compared to the beauty emanating from Myka as she stepped out on to the terrace. She took a deep breath of the salt air and smiled, seeming at peace.

“What do you think?” Helena asked softly after letting Myka gaze out across the expanse of blue for another moment.

“It’s amazing.” Myka said softly.

“I’ll say so.” HG agreed, though her eyes never strayed from Myka.

She thought about telling Myka how she felt then. But that was silly, wasn’t it? They’d met little over a week ago, they hardly knew one another. And with all the loose ends in HG’s life, dangling around waiting for her to hang herself with them, there was little chance of her and Myka being able to have that sort of relationship. What relationship was that exactly, HG didn’t know, she just knew that in moments like this, she really just wanted to take Myka’s hand in hers, to close the distance between the two of them that seemed insurmountable at times, and kiss her. HG moved to take a step forward.

“Whoa!” Pete’s exclamation tore the moment from Helena’s hands as he bound up next to them, leaning precariously over the railing, “Hey, do you think I could jump and make it from here?”

 _Why don’t you find out?_ Helena thought with an eye roll as she briefly entertained the idea of giving him a little nudge. But she let the anger leave her. Now wasn’t the right time to profess her feelings to Myka anyhow.

“Pete!” Myka exclaimed as she gripped his belt and yanked back, “Could you act like an adult for five seconds before you get yourself killed?”

Pete pouted for a moment, but allowed himself to be pulled down.

Claudia and Steve beckoned them back into the hotel. Myka spared one last glance towards the pacific, as if she was afraid it would disappear when she wasn’t looking at it.

Pete ordered an absurd amount of food from room service while Claudia began telling them about the case.

“Okay, so there are reports of tourists losing their marbles on the Fisherman’s Warf. Running around trying to commandeer boats, pretending to be pirates…” she snorted, thinking back to her brief stint in the loony bin, “I’ve got security camera feeds. Sending them to the tablet- now. And if you give me a minute, I’ll hack the police department’s main frame and get you more details…”

The other four gathered around the electronic tablet as Claudia got her concentrated look and began typing madly away on her computer.

The grainy feed showed a middle aged woman shouting, wielding a sword, seeming to shake down some of the shops on the pier. It cut to a college kid in much the same position, except he was trying to steal a boat from the docks. The final clip of a soccer dad with a dagger in his mouth trying to climb the mast of a boat thankfully cut out just as the man began to fall.

“What’s the story here, Claud?” Myka asked after she recovered, hoping that last guy was okay.

“Wayne. Seymour, that last dude, is in the hospital,” Claudia nodded to the tablet, “But he, like the first two, has no memory of what he did. The effects seemed to wear off after a couple of hours. Cops figure they were drugged or hypnotized.” She squinted her eyes and leaned forward, trying to read the handwriting on the officer’s report, “Looks like the only thing they have in common is they all went on a whale watching tour before the incidents. Different days and times, but the same company, Chris’ Whale Watching… let me see, yeah, they were all on the same boat, _Check Mate._ ”*

“Ooh!” Myka bounced on her toes slightly, “Whale watching, we should go!”

They all looked up from their respective activities to give Myka funny looks.

She cleared her throat, feeling her face grow hot, “I mean, you know, to see if the object we’re looking for is on the boat.”

“That’s a splendid idea.” Helena smiled, imagining Myka getting all excited to see the large mammals.

They came up with a plan as they ate the food Pete ordered up, well mostly Pete ate and talked with his mouthful and Myka translated. They went over it a few times so that by the time they actually arrived at the Warf, they all knew what their part was.

Steve and Claudia were dressed like tourists. It was their job to keep the skipper distracted and keep an eye on the crowd. If anyone started acting funny they were supposed to get the others attention by sending out a text to their phones.

Pete, Helena and Myka were to investigate the cabin and below deck, trying to find anything that could be causing the insanity. That was going to be the tough part, but Myka and HG figured that it had to be something pirate related. They explained to Pete, since they realized the key from the library was from Benjamin Franklin’s key experiment and it shot lightning and provided epiphanies, therefor, perhaps the thing making people believe they were pirates should look as if it belonged on a pirate ship.

But like most well-orchestrated plans, it didn’t work half as well as they expected it to. Claudia and Steve found themselves mostly distracted by the skipper. A burly navy veteran in his early thirties, Charlie Evans. He _was_ talking about whales until Jinks noticed his US Navy tattoo on his forearm and asked him about it. They became enthralled in the man’s tales, as well as the other twenty or so tourists on the boat.

Helena and Pete had slipped below deck, but before Myka could follow, the Captain noticed her and walked over.

Myka stammered for a moment before she stuck out her hand, “Uh, hi, I just wanted to say this is a pretty cool set up you’ve got. I mean, having this as a job must just be the best.”

The older man smiled, “It pays the bills I suppose.”

Myka sent Pete a text without looking down at her phone, warning him that she was keeping the captain distracted and they had better hurry. She began asking him questions one after the other, ranging from his job to the company to his personal life, getting desperate when after almost thirty minutes, Pete and Helena hadn’t reemerged.

Truth was, Pete and Myka were having a difficult time finding anything when they didn’t know what they were looking for. There were several rooms all with suspicious looking items, but none that had any effect on them when touched.

“This is getting ridiculous,” Pete said as they began searching the last room, “There’s nothing here, maybe we were wrong and these people really were crazy.”

“Is it strange of me to hope you’re wrong?” HG sighed, feeling a tug on her heart at the thought that they were wrong about these… these curiosities existing.

“No,” Pete smiled sadly, “I really want this to be real, ya know? How cool would that be? Things with special abilities… it’s like living in a movie or a really cool tv show or comic.”

HG agreed with him. The world had felt smaller and smaller to her as time progressed. The discovery of that key was the first sign of growth in her universe that she had seen. It introduced endless possibilities for her.

Pete saw Myka’s first text, explaining she got stuck distracting the captain above deck, but he didn’t get her second text message, warning him that he was going below deck.

The captain explained to Myka that he wanted to check something on a map in his office, and Myka practically begged to go with him, expressing an interest in cartography. He smiled and allowed it, Myka was never happier that she had been a strange kid and actually studied maps in the fifth grade for fun.

He was about to open the door to the first room in the short hall when the sound of scuffling from the end room caught his attention. Myka cursed internally as he looked that way, confusion and anger taking over his indulgent expression.

“Who goes there?” he demanded as he strode down the hall.

Helena reacted to the unknown voice without thinking it through. She just knew she needed an excuse as to why they would be down there that didn’t involve rifling through a desk and book shelf as she and Pete had been doing when the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears.

She grabbed Pete, fisting the material of his shirt in one of her hands, grasping the back of his neck with the other and walking him in to the desk so he was trapped.

“What are you-?” he was cut off when HG pressed her lips firmly against his.

His body reacted to the kiss before his mind had a chance to catch up and remind him that he had a girlfriend. His hands fell on her hips and shifted her closer as he returned the kiss.

“Hey!” a stern voice had Helena pulling back from Pete’s embrace, the proper cocktail of guilt, embarrassment and shock on her face as she turned to face the older gentleman standing at the door way, his fists on his hips, “Just what do you two think you’re doing down here?”

“I’m terribly sorry sir, my boyfriend,” she almost chocked on the word as she gestured to Pete, but caught herself, “and I were looking for a brief moment for ourselves-,” she stopped talking as she realized there was someone standing at his elbow.

Myka had a pained expression on her face, her jaw slack. Helena felt a fissure in her heart, but she knew she had to keep the façade up for the captain.

The man smiled but shook his head, “Come on, you can’t be down here. I’m sorry, Ms. Bering, you’ll have to go back up on deck as well.”

Myka nodded and turned away. HG wanted to call out, to reach for her and stop her from walking away and explain why it appeared she had just been kissing her best friend. But instead, she was forced to interlace her fingers with a still shocked Pete and whisper, “Come on, darling, the captain wishes to have his quarters back.”

Myka felt like she was being suffocated. The small hallway closed in on her and her sweater became two sizes too small at the neck. She struggled to pull in a full breath as she climbed the stairs. Her brain was a fog, and she blamed the sudden bought of claustrophobia, but part of her would let her put any stock in that falsity.

Myka’s mind was trying to tell her something, but her heart was far too loud to let it be heard. The sight of Pete and Helena kissing, of Pete grabbing her hips almost possessively as HG tugged at his shirt would forever be branded into her memory.

She wondered why this hurt so much, giving herself the few moments it took to rejoin the group that had gone back to discussing whales to dwell on the pain, to try and understand it. But she couldn’t. Instead, she sighed and filed it away to be dealt with later, possible two weeks after never.

With the spray of sea water on her face, the brisk air clearing out her lungs, Myka could finally allow her ever observant mind to show her what was trying to grab her attention behind her lip locked friends.

On the wall, slightly hidden behind a chart, there had been a weapon of some sort. Only half of it was viewable, but her flawless memory let her see it in perfect detail. And she thought she had some idea of what they were looking for now.

She situated herself between Steve and Claudia so that when Pete and HG reappeared, holding their hands between them, she didn’t have to look at them, or make it obvious she couldn’t handle standing next to either one of them.

With her mind satisfied at getting its point across, there was nothing to drown out the sound of her heart breaking. She was glad for the cold air on her cheeks, and for the water that splashed there that served to hide the tear that escaped her eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, and Chris’ Whale Watching is a real company on the Warf, and Check Mate is really one of their vessels, I actually know nothing about it beyond that, I took a few creative liberties.


	12. My Bonny Lies Over the Sea

No one spoke in the car.

Steve and Claudia had no idea what the hell happened to their friends, but you could cut the tension with a knife. Pete sat in the far back of the suburban while HG sat in the middle, keeping her eyes on the window while Claudia sat in the front, shooting glances at Steve who just shrugged, meanwhile, Myka looked like she was about to snap the steering wheel in half, her knuckles white with the force of her grip.

Myka insisted that she drive the car, claiming it was her turn, but really it was to keep her mind occupied so she wouldn’t think about the kiss she witnessed. She never thought of her eidetic memory as a curs before this moment. She could remember in horrifying detail the moment she and the captain pushed open the already slightly ajar door at the end of the all. Helena standing between Pete’s legs as he leaned back on the desk. How she had to stand on her toes and pull his face down to hers so they could commit the act.

She wished she had the ability to bleach her brain, anything to get that stupid image form her head. She may not have understood what her feelings for HG were quite yet, but she did know the thought of Pete and Helena made her want to pull over and vomit about a hundred times. Or scream and curse. Or cry. Probably all three.

But it was too much and she needed to focus on the task at hand.

Myka had grown up with the ability to pigeonhole her feelings, compartmentalize so she could deal, but she found she needed that practice less and less since leaving home. It was a bitter sweet realization when she found the act was like riding a bike, you never really forgot.

There was nothing to soften the silence that hung over them, no music or words or sighs. It wasn’t until they were back in their hotel room that Steve pulled Pete to the room shared by the boys as Claudia did the same with Helena while Myka grabbed her laptop and sat on the terrace, the only one still focused on the case.

“What the hell happened?” the separate conversations began the same.

“We were trying to search for something that could be causing the weirdness,” Pete told Steve.

“And we heard footsteps and shouting, and I panicked,” Helena’s eyes were begging for Claudia to understand, “It wasn’t as if we could be caught ransacking the man’s boat.”

“And she kissed me,” Pete hissed in a whisper, pointing a finger at the girls’ room, “She just grabbed me and the next thing I know her lips are on mine.”

“You what?” Claudia put her hand over her mouth as Helena covered her face.

“You didn’t kiss her back, did you?” Steve winced when Pete’s face turned even guiltier.

“I didn’t mean to.” Pete almost whined, “I just reacted to the hot girl pushing me against a desk!”

“That isn’t even the worst part.” Helena groaned.

“What could be worse than kissing Pete?” a sickening feeling was blooming in the pit of Claudia’s stomach and she thought she knew what the next words from her mouth would be.

“Myka walked in on you?” Steve felt his jaw pop open as he groaned internally.

“You don’t think she’ll tell Kelly, will you?” Pete worried his hands, “I know we just started dating and all but I really like her, and Myka looked pissed, you know? She likes Kelly more than my other girlfriends, they really seemed to hit it off.”

“HG, if you’re trying to impress the girl, I don’t think shoving your tongue down her best friend’s throat was the best way to go.” Claudia shook her head.

“I know,” HG collapsed on to the bed, “What do I do? You should have seen her face, it was like she had been slapped across the face.

“You need to talk to Myka,” Steve pushed, “You should be more concerned with what she is feeling right now than her ratting you out, which I doubt she’ll do.”

“What are you talking about?” Pete tilted his head, looking like a confused puppy and Steve wanted to shake him. He was just as bad as the two girls too blind to see what they meant to each other. But Steve just sighed, he figured it was Myka’s place to tell Pete when she was comfortable with it herself.

“Just go talk to her, explain what happened.” Claudia nudged her friend, “The longer you take to face her, the more her brain will be stuck going over it.”

Pete and Helena left their rooms at the same time, eyes meeting and then quickly adverting as their faces washed with red. Each opened their mouths to speak, but words never came. The sound of the balcony door shutting had them both turning to watch Myka walk in, her eyes glued to the computer in her hands.

“Hey guys, I think I found something, come check this out.” She sat in the arm chair before looking up at the two of them, eye brow raised, “Well?”

Claudia and Steve, who both had been eavesdropping, pushed their friends forward at the sound of Myka’s call. Their presence helped pull the troubled students from their panicked thoughts. They sat around Myka, Steve and Claudia sitting between their friends so as not to upset Myka. She didn’t even notice.

“I saw something in the office,” she began, causing trepidation to bubble up in HG and Pete, “I’m pretty sure it was a cutlass.”

“Like the car?” Pete cleared his throat when his voice came out sounding strangled, he was hoping that they could go on pretending that wasn’t the only thing she saw on the boat, “From that show you watch with the angels and demons and those two brothers?”

“No, Pete,” Myka rolled her eyes, sounding almost like her old self, “A cutlass is a sword that was really popular for naval fleets.”

“Like a pirate,” Pete smiled, relaxing slightly.

“You know who else was in a naval fleet?” Claudia asked, shooting a look at Steve as the case began to pull their attention back in.

“The skipper!” Steve started snapping his finger, “What was his name?”

“Charlie Evans?” Myka tried, looking up from the whale watching company’s website.

“That’s it!” Steve nodded.

“He’s only been working there a few weeks,” Myka ran a hand through her curls, “He started right before the first incident. What do you guys know about him?”

“He was in the navy, he was talking about all the adventures he went on,” Claudia pulled her own laptop off the coffee table, “Let me see where he was stationed….” She started to hum absently as she typed.

“Claudia please,” Steve pleaded, he had heard far too much of that song today and it was driving him mad.

“Sorry, it’s catchy.” Claudia rolled her eyes but went right back to humming a few moments later, “Looks like he spent quite a bit of time in the Caribbean. He was discharged with full honors, though he is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, but most of his files are redacted.” She frowned and resumed her little tune.

“Claudia!” Steve snapped, “It was bad enough listening to the skipper whistle that for hours straight.”

“That’s it!” Myka looked up.

“What’s it?” It was Helena to ask, the first time she spoke the entire time. She was too busy staring at Myka to participate much in the conversation, noticing how Myka avoided eye contact with her and Pete. While everyone else thought she was unfazed, HG had spent enough time staring at her face for the last week to notice that something was off.

“ _My bonny lies over the ocean_ ,” she half sung, half spoke, “ _My bonny lies over the sea, my bonny lies over the ocean._ ”

“So bring back my bonny to me,” Steve finished with a huff, hating the song more and more, “We get it, what does it matter?”

“The cutlass, hanging on the wall, there was a name etched in the wood beneath it,” Myka went back in her memory, blocking out the figures in the middle of the room, focusing only on the old weapon, “I could see the name _Anne._ So, what I’m thinking is, this cutlass belonged to Anne Bonny.”

“Who?’ three of them said simultaneously.

Myka shared an exasperated look with Helena before she realized she was upset with her.

“Anne Bonny was a fierce female pirate in the 1700’s on the ship _Revenge_.” Myka explained, turning away from the Brit, “She was married to Captain Calico Jack. They sailed mostly in the Caribbean.”

“She fought brilliantly alongside the men,” HG filled in, excitement over their situation worming its way back in, “And they say that she could swing her sword faster than could be seen.”

“When she and her husband’s crew were captured, she was the only one to escape,” Myka felt herself smile despite her mood, “Or at least, they think she escaped. There is no record of her execution or release, but there were rumors of her coming to America and starting a new family.”

“Uh oh,” Claudia’s face paled and she stopped typing.

“What uh oh?” Steve sighed.

“Well, I took what Myka said about the cutlass and ran another search,” Claudia hesitated, “Looks like a body washed on the shore a few weeks ago. ME report says that body had over fifty wounds, but here’s the kicker, he says they happened almost simultaneously. The weapon that matches the wounds? A 18th century style cutlass. And guys? He was the previous skipper on _Check Mate_.”

“Well,” Myka said after a moment of silence, “We’ve got to sneak back on the boat, grab Anne Bonny’s cutlass and neutralize it before anyone else gets hurt.”

Pete and HG gave her twin looks of horror.

“Um, Mykes,” Pete looked around for help, “Isn’t that a little dangerous? I mean, if Evans already killed one guy with this thing, what’s to stop him from killing us?”

“We’ll get back on the boat when it’s dark,” Myka shrugged and closed the laptop, “What else are we supposed to do? Let him continue hurting people?”

“No, but _us,_ Myka?” Pete made a gesture to include the five of them, “Why do _we_ have to be the one to do it?”

“Who else is gonna do it, Pete?” Myka demanded, though she was still remaining eerily calm, “The cops? You think they’ll believe us when we tell them, what, that the ghost of a dead pirate is possessing people using her sword?”

Pete was quiet, looking at each of the others in turn, waiting for somebody to speak up, but they couldn’t think of anything. Myka was right, telling the police what they thought they knew would result in a one way ticket to the padded cells. But if they did nothing, the next death would be on their hands.

“I didn’t think so.” Myka smirked, we should probably wait until it’s been dark for a while before we go.”

“Well, we can’t go unarmed.” Pete grumbled.

“Actually, I’ve been working on something,” Claudia mentioned in an offhand tone, though there was a mad glint in her eyes, “Pete, Steve, you guys want to help me out so I can finish it before we head out.”

She made a face at Steve when he looked confused. It took him a moment, but he finally understood what she was trying to do, “Oh! Oh sure, come on Pete, let’s see what toys Claudia has been building instead of sleeping.”

Pete scrunched his eyebrows together, but he allowed himself to be dragged into the girls’ room by Claudia and Steve.

It wasn’t until the door clicked shut that Myka realized what they had done.

“Myka, may I speak to you for a moment?” HG asked, a hint of uncertainty in her usually sure tone.

Myka barely glanced up at her, suddenly far more interested in the pattern on the couch, “I suppose.” She shrugged, keeping her passive tone and mask on.

HG wanted to scream, but she let out her breath in a slow sigh instead, “About what you saw on the boat, between Peter and I, it isn’t-,”

“What I think?” Myka supplied, the first hint of anger sparking in her green eyes, but still she did not look at Helena directly, now looking at the generic art on the walls.

“Precisely, what you saw wasn’t what you thought.” HG breathed a sigh of relief, Myka was on the same page as her, it would make the explanations so much easier.

“So you didn’t kiss Pete?” Myka stopped the hand that as tracing patterns on the arm, finally meeting Helena’s gaze. Her normally bright, warm, inviting eyes were cold, detached and hard

It was HG’s turn to look away, “Yes I did, but Myka-,”

“That’s what I thought,” she cut off her excuses, “It’s okay, Helena,” Myka closed her eyes, “I got used to girls pretending to be my friends in high school so they could get close to Pete or my sister, it’s whatever.” The amount of pain in Myka’s voice hit HG like a punch to the gut, “I understand.”

“No you don’t,” Helena insisted, “I don’t want to be with Pete. I only kissed him out of panic. We needed an excuse to be below decks that didn’t involve the possible theft of an item. Kissing Peter was the first idea to pop into my head, and I am not very good at impulse control or thinking things through.”

Myka remained quiet, but she opened her eyes. There was a vulnerability there, a strand of trust and hope and it was so fragile looking it broke HG’s heart, something she thought couldn’t be done ever again. She wondered, not for the first time, what sort of youth this girl had that made her so blind to her own value.

“Myka I was not hanging around you to get close to Pete,” Helena ran a hand through her dark tresses, “If anything I have been playing nice with Pete for your benefit.”

“Why?” Myka asked, honestly confused, “I mean, you are this social butter fly and everyone seems to like you, meanwhile I blush when I even think about talking to people.”

“Did it ever occur to you that I spend time with you simply because I enjoy your company? That perhaps over the last week I’ve come to consider you a very close friend?” HG spoke earnestly, her eyes pleading with Myka to believe her.

Myka gave a small smile, “I guess it’s just weird to see two of my friends, you know,” She made a gesture of bringing her finger tips together, “I mean, seeing you and Pete with other people is one thing. It’s going to take a bit to get this image out of my head.”

“You believe me thought don’t you?” HG asked.

“About kissing him as a cover?” Myka tilted her head, as if considering it. “Yeah, I believe you. I mean, Pete’s with Kelly, right? And I’ve never seen you show an interest in him so.” She shrugged.

“I mean that I care about you Myka, not because of who you are friends with but simply because of who you are.” Helena could see she wanted to believe it, could have perhaps, if not for the kiss.

Myka was still working with her feelings and thoughts compartmentalized, saving everything to be analyzed and over analyzed later. She could see, logically, why Pete and Helena had kissed, but until that image was gone from her brain, she didn’t think she could ever fully trust it.

HG could see that play out in Myka’s guarded eyes. She had taken a step forward in her relationship with Myka but ten steps back when she kissed Pete. She should have thought of a better plan then locking lips with the oversized man child.

Helena was so close to pouring her heart out to the girl sitting across from her, but she knew it wouldn’t be received well right now. Myka needed time to get over the shock of the incident. Normally, Helena was supremely impatient, but something about waiting for Myka seemed to promise it would be worth it.

Myka never responded and HG took a steadying breath, “Well, let’s go see what Claudia has built for our little adventure tonight, shall we?”

Jinks pulled his ear off the door and shook his head sadly at Claudia, who was half paying attention to Steve and Pete, and half to the thing in her hands.

It was a repurposed tazer gun, revamped by Claudia to shoot electricity. Like a tazer, but from a distance. She got the idea from the key in the library. She had tested it a few times, but it was iffy. They had to test it tonight in the field, and she hoped it wouldn’t disappoint.

They looked a little cliché walking the Warf long after night fell, wearing all black and sticking to the shadows. Claudia cut the security feeds, but that didn’t mean there weren’t possible witnesses anywhere.

When they boarded the _Check Mate_ , they found a man pacing the deck back and forth, two swords in his hands and mumbling under his breath.

They all came to a halt, wishing they had the forethought to check out the boat before getting on it. Steve stepped in front of Claudia as Myka put an arm out to stop HG from continuing forward. Pete looked to his best friend, silently asking what to do. Pete was usually the one who wanted to make the plans, but Myka had started this, and he was waiting for her cue.

Myka squinted in the light offered by the dockside lamp. It was obvious neither swords held by the skipper were Anne Bonny’s cutlass, seeing as these were a bit more modern, one looking like a ceremonial weapon, mostly undamaged. He had a crazed look in his eye that she recognized from the video.

“He doesn’t have the cutlass,” Myka took a step forward and HG grabbed the back of her jacket.

“Even so, darling, those are two very real, very _sharp_ looking swords he has,” the fear in Helena’s voice was nearly tangible as her whisper tickled the back of Myka’s ear, “Just what do you plan on doing?”

“Talking him down,” Myka tried to hide the shiver that moved slowly down her spine, “While Pete takes Steve and Claudia with the magic purple goo, go find the real sword below deck.”

“It’s not magic, it’s science.” Helena mumbled as she gripped the locket around her neck and Myka smirked, “And just what am I supposed to do?”

“Have my back.” Myka’s tone turned serious, “Claudia, give Helena the tazer gun. If things go sideways, you use it on him, okay?”

HG nodded, feeling sick to her stomach as Claudia put the weapon in her hands. HG was always weary of guns, weapons of any sort, preferring to use her Kempo training to defend herself if necessary. But, if Myka were in danger, she knew she would use whatever she could to help her.

Pete looked into his best friend’s eyes, “Be careful.”

Myka nodded and he led Claudia and Steve to the door that lead to the offices below deck, moving silently and quickly.

Myka took a deep breath and lifted her hands in a placating manner and stepped forward until Evans noticed her. Helena stayed out of his line of vision, keeping the gun trained on the man.

“This is _my_ ship,” the words were low, guttural, and Myka had a hard time understanding him, “Who gave you permission to come aboard _my_ ship?”

“Charlie, your name’s Charlie, right?” Myka kept her tone even, soothing, “I’m Myka, I was on the tour earlier… do you remember me?”

“Women are not allowed on my ship!” he shouted.

Myka took a slow breath through her nose, “Come on, Charlie, don’t you think that’s a little misogynistic? Why don’t you put the swords down and think about what you’re doing.”

But Charlie Evans was beyond reason, “If a woman wants to be on my ship she must prove herself as valuable as any man.” He threw one of the swords down at Myka’s feet, “Pick it up.” He barked.

Myka flinched, but sighed inwardly as she lifted the sword, testing its weight in her hand without taking her eyes off Evans. If she hadn’t been watching him so closely, she would have missed his movement. As it was, just as he lunged, Myka turned her body and blocked the attack with the flat of her blade.

The years of fencing practice flooded back into her mind and the movements came as easy as breathing even though it had been two years since she touched a blade of any kind.

Myka didn’t really want to hurt him, though, so she continued to block and dodge, hoping to wear him out, but it only seemed to make him angrier. She vaguely wondered why HG hadn’t shot him yet, and where was Pete? Would the effects of the cutlass disappear once it had been neutralized?

Well, Pete was working with Claudia and Steve to get the sword completely covered in the thick purple goo from the silver container Claudia had. And HG was cursing at Claudia and her blasted invention that wasn’t working. She pulled the trigger time and time again, but all it did was make a click and a faint buzz sound.

She looked up to see how Myka was holding up and promptly forgot what she was doing.

Myka moved so gracefully with the blade in her hand, like a dancer. She made it look so effortless as her attacker began to wear out. She could see the strength and determination to keep it in check coming from the brunette.

She could see the precise moment Myka got sick of the cat and mouse game. Her eyes flashed and suddenly she was the pursuer, and Charlie Evans was working hard to block her every move. Then it was over. Charlie Evans was on his back and Myka had the tip of her sword pressing into his neck, his own sword cast off to the side.

Helena couldn’t ever remember being this turned on and she had to swallow a couple times before she remembered how to close her mouth. She walked forward, putting the tip of the tazer gun to a smiling Evans’ neck and pulling the trigger. His body spasamed before going limp.

HG made sure he still had a pulse while Myka dropped her weapon with a metallic clang.

Helena rose, putting her hands on Myka’s neck first, swallowing her urge to kiss her as she looked her over carefully for sign of injury.

“That was magnificent,” HG breathed.

Myka blushed, more from the tingling feeling resulting from Helena’s fingers on her skin than from the praise. The adrenaline was wearing off and she was suddenly very much aware of what she did, “I didn’t hurt him did I?”

HG rolled her eyes and scoffed, “No, well, possibly his pride may be wounded, but physically he is fine, I’m more worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” Myka felt her skin grow hotter as she realized how close HG was to her.

“How did you do that?” HG thought she should be embarrassed to hear the sound of wonderment in her voice, but she found herself rather preoccupied when she felt Myka’s pulse jump beneath her fingers.

 “I uh, did fencing in high school,” she swallowed thickly, “I was pretty good at it then.”

“I’ll say.” Helena smirked.

Myka found herself staring down at the inventor’s lips, realizing she liked the slight height difference between them.

HG noticed the flick of Myka’s green eyes and how she unconsciously bit her lip in response. Helena considered closing the distance between them, but the sound of Pete’s voice calling out for them had Myka jerking in response. The mask returning to her face as well as the impassive icy gaze.

“HG! Mykes!” Pete bound out of the door, “We’ve got the sword, everything… okay up here?” he slowly drifted off as he watched Myka pull away from HG and then at the unconscious man on the deck, “What the hell happened?”

“Oh you know,” Myka smirked at her friend, “Just a little bit of sword play. We better go before he wakes up though.”

Helena found herself swaying a bit, feeling a bit dizzy at the sudden shift in Myka, and wondered if that’s what it felt like to other people when she did it. She knew she was going to have to do a lot more to prove herself to Myka.

But damn if she didn’t feel more motivated to after seeing the fiery passion and determination in Myka’s eyes as she wielded that sword. Her mind drifted to more pleasant scenarios in which she could pull that passion out…


	13. Sam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy Back Story Batman!

The drive from Monterey to Tamplis University for their second ping wasn’t the same as the drive to Monterey. Everything felt a bit forced, the conversations, the jokes, even the silences.

They were all a bit exhausted from the night before, and they still had yet to recover from a certain kiss. It didn’t help that the seventy mile drive was stretched into four hours because of detours, construction and traffic.

But the more time they spent together, the more quirks they noticed about their companions.

Myka ended up alone on the bed in the girls’ room since HG and Claudia both decided there were far better things to do than sleep the night away. She mumbled in her sleep, which HG found adorable and Claudia found infuriatingly distracting. Steve, who thought after two years of sharing an apartment with Pete made him know almost everything about his friend, realized that Pete snored loud enough to rival a chainsaw when he slept on his back. They found out quickly in the morning that Claudia could not function properly in the morning without coffee. HG had to take a shower before she could properly communicate with anyone, and Pete could shove seven croissants in his mouth at once, which was mildly impressive.

These things went mostly unnoticed, filed away under random facts they knew about one another. But there was one thing in particular that struck Claudia as odd. It wasn’t even that big of a deal, really, but it seemed to be nagging at her as they sat in the car.

The radio was playing softly in the background, some mix Claudia had thrown together and put on when she got to ride shotgun and Pete drove. She had been asking them all random questions, getting mostly honest answers, and as the quite descended once more, she found her next question. And as she turned to look at Pete’s profile, she couldn’t stand it any longer, and the question spilled over her lips.

“Hey Pete?” She began, turning in the passenger seat to face him, “How come you don’t ever drink? I mean, we’re in college right? That’s all part of the college experience, get hammered, wake up in a toga duct taped to the side of the English department. But you never drink with us, why is that?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steve stiffen. He knew the story, and his face paled slightly as he dropped his head back on to the headrest in preparation to hear it once more. Myka went still. Not that she was moving much before, drumming her fingers ever now and then, head tilting this way and that, foot tapping absently to the song… but pressed as tightly to HG as she was, the raven haired Brit noticed the change. She lifted her head and focused on the conversation she had been tuning out before.

Claudia noticed all of these reactions, and the hardening in Pete’s normally warm eyes. Gone was the boyish smile and replaced with a grim frown. The redhead regretted asking the question now. She was still insanely curious, but now she thought maybe she didn’t want to know some things about her new friends.

Pete was quiet for a moment, but just when Claudia thought he wasn’t going to answer, he spoke, softly at first, “My, uh, my best friend, Sam, was killed our senior year,” he swallowed, blocking the emotions, allowing only the memories, “Drunk driver.”

HG felt Myka’s breathing hitch at the sound of the name as she turned her face away to look out the window.

“We were at a party,” Pete began to explain, though no one asked him to, “I was supposed to be the sober driver that night, but we had just won a big game, and our teammates convinced me to let loose for a bit… I wasn’t coherent enough to stop Sam from getting in the car with another drunk kid, and he was just worried about getting home before curfew. Daniel ran a stop light, his car got t-boned by a mac truck. Daniel walked away from it with a minor concussion, but the impact was on the passenger side and Sam wasn’t so lucky.” Pete shrugged, “I guess I lost my taste for it.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Pete.” Myka’s voice was thick with unshed tears.

She thought she had gotten over this. The nightmares had stopped, she no longer cried out for him in her sleep. Sometimes, she could go a whole day without thinking about him, now… but the emotions from that night rolled over her in a wave, threatening to pull her under and drown her once more.

“It wasn’t yours either, Mykes.” Pete looked at her in the rear view mirror.

“If I had been there,” she began, turning to reveal her tear stained face, “If I hadn’t… I could have stopped him. He only drank as much as he did because of our fight.”

There were questions that Helena wanted to ask that she didn’t want to know the answers to. She wanted to know who Sam was, to Myka to Pete, put the pain on Myka’s face, the strangled sound in Pete’s voice stilled her tongue.

HG intertwined her fingers with Myka’s, rubbing soothing circles with her thumb on the back of her hand. Myka squeezed her hand, but still didn’t look at Helena, but she also didn’t let go. They stayed joined like that for the remainder of the trip, even when the conversation turned lighter, and Claudia even had them both laughing once more.

It was when they arrived at the hotel that HG got a moment alone with Steve. Claudia was doing last minute research on their next target, focused completely on the laptop. Pete and Myka went to get them Pizza.

“I know it’s not your place to tell me,” she began as they stood side by side in the mini kitchen, “But I can’t ask Myka, I couldn’t stand to see the pain in her eyes…”

“But you wanna know about Sam, right?” Steve tilted his head.

HG nodded, biting her thumb nail.

“Myka met Sam through Pete.” Steve began, “Myka and Pete had been best friend since the third grade, but Pete and Sam were in boy scouts together, football, wrestling… Pete and Sam were popular, Myka was the tutor in most of the jocks eyes. But Pete played match maker and Myka and Sam started dating in high school. Pete says he thought they were _the_ couple, ya know? The ones that are destined to get married and have kids and be disgustingly adorable? I don’t know what Myka and Sam fought about that night, because I have only heard the story from Pete, all I know is they broke up. Myka left the party early, Sam started drinking. And I guess you know what happened after that.”

Helena could just _see_ how Myka would take that on herself. Myka believed if it weren’t for her, he never could have been put in that situation in the first place.

Helena clutched at her locket, thinking of Myka’s pain stirred some of her own. She wished the girl were back so she could hug her and tell her Helena’s own story.

But when Pete and Myka returned all smiles with two pizza’s, laughing at an unheard joke, HG held her tongue. That was a story for another time.


	14. Missed it by That Much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next couple chapters will be based largely on the season 2 episode 7, For the Team.

As the group of students sat around a hotel room, eating pizza and discussing their next course of action, Warehouse agents pulled up to the police station in Monterey.

“We’re from secret service,” Raymond flashed his badge at the befuddled officer.

“There was a dead body that washed up on the beach,” Sandra added as they pocketed their IDs, “We’d like to speak to the detective in charge of that case.”

“Won’t do you any good.” A voice had them spinning around, Raymond’s hand unconsciously landing on the butt of his tesla, the detective stuck his hand out, “Dean Stacy, it was my case.”

“Was?” Sandra asked, refusing his hand.

“We got the guy,” he smirked, “It’s the damnedest thing, he came in and confessed early this morning. Charles Evans, navy veteran, says he killed Mr. Long and drugged the tourists.”

He expected them to ask about a motive, but they didn’t. They didn’t care about the man’s motives, they only cared about one thing, “Where’s the weapon he used?”

“Gone,” he shook his head, “Mr. Evans says it was stolen last night.”

“Stolen?” Raymond and Sandra exchanged a look, “By who?”

“He says a group of kids attacked him on his boss’ boat last night. Took his cutlass. Apparently it’s a souvenir from his service years. He’s more concerned about getting his sword back than the fact that he’s going to jail for the rest of his life.”

“Is there footage of this?” Sandra’s hand itched to grab the device from her pocket.

“Nope, they somehow managed to hack the city surveillance and cut the feeds.” The detective was more impressed than annoyed. They didn’t support vigilantes, at least not publically. But the kids had clearly scared some sense into Evans, and that was one more dangerous person on his streets. What did he care if the guy got his antique sword stolen?

“What about your suspect?” Raymond pressed, “Could he describe his attackers?”

“Only one,” Detective Stacey moved to get the recently done sketch.

“Thanks.” Sandra’s tone was clipped and she took the copy roughly before turning on her heel and walking out, her partner right behind her.

Only when they were back in their SUV did Sandra take out her Farnsworth and turn the dial connecting her directly to her supervisor.

“Sandra,” he said brightly, “Raymond, have you got the cutlass already?”

“No, someone beat us to it.” Raymond grumbled.

“What?” The supervisor’s voice turned acidic quickly.

“A group of kids apparently attacked the man who had Anne Bonny’s cutlass and they took it.” He explained, indignation filling him.

“A group of kids has an artifact?” he demanded, “Please tell me you at least know who they are?”

“There was no surveillance, Evans only remembers one of them,” Sandra stepped in, “A girl, looks to be in her early twenties. Dark curly hair and green eyes.” She turned the sketch around so her supervisor could see it on the small screen.

“Do what you have to, find them and get the cutlass back before they hurt themselves or someone else. They could still be in the city.” James Macpherson slammed the lid of his Farnsworth closed on the faces of his agents.

He spent the next few hours trying to figure out how a group of kids managed to snag and artifact before his agents did. The only conclusion he could come to that they were trained somehow, smart and cunning with great connections.

* * *

Myka slapped Pete on the back hard over and over until he finally coughed up the pizza crust that got caught in his windpipe.

Claudia and Steve were rolling in laughter while HG looked mildly disgusted.

“I told you I could eat four slices in under a minute,” Pete smiled between coughs.

“Yes well,” Helena cleared her throat, “You don’t seem to have finished the last one, so I don’t believe that counted.”

“Okay,” Myka attempted to reign them back in, “Can we just get back to the case at hand? Claudia? Why are we here?”

Claudia wiped tears from her face, still chuckling every once in a while as she sat up and opened her laptop, “Okay Scooby Doos, gather around. We’re here because of Tamplis University and their wrestling team.”

“A wrestling team?” HG quirked an eyebrow.

“Okay, so check this, they lost every match, for the last scene seasons straight. Then bam, they are suddenly unstoppable.”

“Are you sure it isn’t steroids, Claud?” Myka asked.

“Yeah, there was this guy in high school who was like a beast, no one could pin him,” Pete shook his head, “Turns out he was a total juicer.”

“No, there’s definitely something hinky going on here,” She insisted, “Teddy Benson died in a fire while he was camping. Police are calling is an ‘accident of undetermined cause’,” she snorted, “So if they are using a, what did you call it HG?”

“A curiosity?” Helena supplied.

“There ya go,” Claudia snapped her fingers, “if there is a curiosity _is_ helping them win their matches, it might also be killing them.”

“Okay, why don’t Claud and I go talk to the coach and the teammates, and you three go check the campsite and his dorm room?” Myka suggested nonchalantly.

She didn’t want to be alone with Helena yet. She could still feel the ghost of Helena’s fingers intertwined with her own, the after effect of peace that had filled her, it had been an anchor keeping her in the present. But she couldn’t stand the pity she saw in HG’s eyes after Myka’s little break down in the car, and knew she had questions for Myka that she wasn’t really ready to talk about yet.

HG’s face fell, but she pretended to agree with the rest of them. When they went their separate ways, she branched off from the boys.

“How about I go and look through the boy’s room while you two check out where our young Teddy met his untimely demise.” HG smiled sweetly, “That way we finish up faster, get the curiosity, if there is one, before anyone else is harmed.”

Pete and Steve looked to each other. Pete didn’t have a bad vibe about splitting up and Jinks felt Helena was being honest. They shrugged and agreed to it, circling back around to where they had just dropped off Myka and Claudia and letting HG out.

“Meet up with those guys after you’re done,” Steve called out, “And call us if you find anything.”

“Will do,” Helena mock saluted and watched them drive away.

She hadn’t lied, not technically. She would go search the boy’s dorm room, but she was more interested in keeping an eye on Myka and her roommate. After Myka was put in danger once already on this little adventure of hers, she was weary to let her out of her sight. That, coupled with the fact that Myka had seemed so vulnerable that morning, would leave her far too distracted to be of help to anyone if she strayed too far from her.

Claudia printed out official looking badges that said they were reporters for some local news station. The techie had wanted to print out police credentials instead, but Myka had put her foot down. They were already breaking so many laws, she didn’t want to add impersonating a police officer to their list of crimes.

They were following the coach through the athletic department. When they approached him saying they were reporters, he was thrilled someone wanted to do a story about him and his team and was cooperative. He talked up his wrestlers, crediting their sudden winning streak to hard work, their willingness to stay at school over spring break and practice more was proof of this, he claimed.

As he led them to the boys’ locker room, Claudia grew visibly uncomfortable.

“Hard work and dedication, Miss Bering,” Coach Tappon insisted, “That’s what it takes to be champions. But I’ll leave you to talk to one of the boys about that. Garry!”

A towel clad young man turned around, a sheepish smile, but not bothered by his lack of clothing. He was cute, charming in a boy next door kind of way, but Claudia had been bumped by one too many naked boys and she looked like she was about to explode.

Myka didn’t understand what the big deal was, Claudia was acting as if she had never seen a naked guy before, and they weren’t even really naked. Towels seemed to be covering all the important parts, and most of the guys were avoiding the two girls anyhow.

 “Claud, do you want to go wait in the gym?” Myka rolled her eyes.

“God yes.” She scurried away and Myka resisted chuckling, not wanting to embarrass her further.

“So, Garry,” She struggled to get back on track, “Tell me about your coach, does he ever push you too hard?”

Garry looked confused, “The coach knows it’s important to win, a lot of us are here on sports scholarships, those tend to go away if you are part of a losing team.”

“Do you think Coach Tappon would ever risk injury to one of your teammates in order to win?” Myka watched his expression closely as his confusion morphed into anger.

“Just what kind of reporter are you?” Garry demanded, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

“Investigative reporter,” Myka kept her tone clipped, “What do you know about Teddy Benson?”

“That’s what you’re here about?” Garry shook his head, “The police said it was an accident.”

“And what do you think happened?” Myka challenged.

Garry opened his mouth to retort, but a cry of pain echoed by a scream had Myka racing out of the locker room and back into the gym. Where Claudia as covering her face to trap her shriek in her mouth and keep the stench of burning flesh from her nose.

Claudia had been relieved and terribly embarrassed when she stumbled out of the locker room. Hands on her knees as she berated herself. She wished she could be more like Myka, after her bad assery on  the _Check Mate_ , Claudia was looking up to the older girl, wanted to impress her. Instead she couldn’t even be in a room with the naked guys that hardly seemed to faze Myka.

She looked up when she heard the groans of pain. There was a wrestler on his knees, a look of agony on his face as his muscles spasmed violently.

“Are you okay?” Claudia heard the dumb question come out of her mouth before she could stop it. Of course he wasn’t okay, he was crying out in pain.

“I don’t-,” his struggle was cut off by a loud agonizing yell, then his body caught on fire.

Claudia realized the huge pitched keening noise was coming from her and she immediately covered her mouth as the boy who was sitting before her only seconds ago was reduced to nothing more than a pile of ash in a matter of seconds.

She was aware that Myka was shaking her asking what happened, but she couldn’t even think straight yet. The police came and went, no one asked Claudia for a statement, they couldn’t get passed her guard dog even if they tried.

The coach was talking to the boys, giving them encouragement when Claudia finally came around. “He just caught on fire,” she didn’t take her eyes off the coach, “He looked like he was in so much pain and I did nothing to help him.”

“You couldn’t have done anything Claud,” Myka rubbed between her shoulder blades. Myka was just glad the techie hadn’t been any closer to Phillip when he went up. The scream that yanked her from her interview with Garry still rung in her ears.

“ _You_ would have at least tried,” Claudia mumbled, “I just completely flipped out. I wish I could be me like you, ya know? I mean, you kicked that psycho dudes ass yesterday, you tried talking down Walter Sykes in the library. Meanwhile I can’t even talk to a guy standing in a towel!”

“That’s dumb,” Myka huffed and Claudia glared at her, “I mean, we don’t need two mes running around, okay? That wouldn’t be fun for anyone. But you know what we do need? A you. I mean, I have no idea how to work that computer system of yours, so.” She shrugged

Claudia smiled and they both turned when they heard the team speak in cadence. They were gathered in circle, huddled around some medal the coach was holding, grabbing on to it and chanting.

“You don’t think?” Claudia pointed.

“I do actually,” Myka nodded and her phone rang, a picture of Pete popped up and she answered it, “What’d you guys find out, Pete?”

Pete’s voice was nearly lost in the static, and Myka had to step outside to try and hear it better, but it was no use. She lost the line just after Pete told her there was nothing at the campsite but a vaguely body shaped burn on the ground. He was gonna call her when they got in range of another cell tower.

Claudia emerged and asked what was up, “We’ve got to talk to the coach again.”

“Well, he was leaving, so…” Claudia thumbed in the direction she’d seen Tappon rushing off to.

Myka hurried off, leaving Claudia behind. She caught the coach as he was about to enter the faculty building.

“Coach! Coach Tappon!” she called out as she reached for him.

“What is it Miss Bering, I’ve got a meeting with the teams benefactor in two minutes.” His face was stern, but his eyes were darting restlessly back and forth.

Myka pressed him to tell her what he was doing to make the boys win, if he was using some sort of object that enhanced them. She asked about the medal. But the coach just got angrier the harder she pushed him.

A man with a suit poked his head out from the door they stopped in front of and the coach stopped talking, “We’re waiting on you, Coach.” The man said as he looked Myka up and down before disappearing once more.

“Look, I don’t know what story you’re looking for, but you aren’t going to find it.” The coach put his foot down, “So what don’t you take that little red head of yours and leave.”

Claudia walked up as he entered the building, “Well that was rude.”

“Yeah,” Myka rolled her eyes, “But we need to get that medal. And quickly, while his office is empty.”

They rushed back to the athletic department and snuck into his office. Only to be greeted by a familiar form with black hair.

“Helena, what the hell?” Myka demanded in a harsh whisper.

“Hello darling,” HG spoke quickly, “I finished searching the boy’s room, a bit of a dead end unless you were looking for heavily photoshopped porn magazines. I figured why not check the coaches office for the curiosity.”

Myka sighed heavily, “I thought you were with Pete and Steve?”

“We thought it would be a bit quicker if we searched separately.” Helena’s voice was too innocent for Myka to believe, “It’s that medal in the coach’s cabinet, isn’t it?”

“We think so yeah,” Myka said as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves and lifted the medal from the floor, “We saw them chanting around it right after another one of their teammates caught on fire.”

“He just caught on fire?” Helena quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Claudia was there, she saw.” Myka said absentmindedly. She was more interested in carefully inspecting the gold medal in her hand, but it appeared rather insignificant.

Helena’s face paled as she moved to inspect her best friend closely, “Are you alright, dear?”

“I’m fine.” Claudia mumbled, but was touched by HG’s concern.

There was low talking in the hallway and Myka and Claudia exchanged a panicked look.

“That’s the coach,” Myka tucked the medal into her coat pocket, “He can’t find us in here.”

“He can’t find _you_ in here,” HG gave them a sly smile as she backed towards the door, “He hasn’t met me yet.”

Myka reached out to stop her, but the girl was already gone.

Helena grabbed the coach’s arm and swung him around, talking adamantly about how happy she was with this wresting season, effectively distracting him from the door so Myka and Claudia could slip out.

“You’ve got to admit,” Claudia chuckled as she nudged a irked looking Myka, “She has a sort of style.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Myka rolled her eyes as they finally stopped their little half run trot they were doing, stopping at a bench by the parking lot, “I’m gonna call Pete, here, see if you can find anything out about this.” She handed Claudia the gold medal still wrapped in the latex glove.

Myka was on the phone, one ear plugged, the other listening for Pete’s answer as she walked. She always paced when she was on the phone, a nervous habit. Dangerous now that she had wandered into the mostly deserted parking lot.

The first squeal of tires went unnoticed by Myka, and by the time she actually looked up, the black SUV was barreling down on her and she couldn’t think to react.

 _This is how I die._ Myka sighed internally just before a firm arm wrapped around her waist along with the faint smell of apples.

HG pulled out an odd gun looking thing and shot it into the air. Next thing Myka knows, she’s dangling in the air, gripping tightly to the other woman while the black SUV misses hitting her by less than a foot.

Helena had seen the car heading toward a distracted Myka and she reacted before thinking. She hadn’t tested the grappler yet, didn’t even know if it could hold their combined weight, but she had to do something. She was relieved when it actually worked.

HG slowly lowered them back to the ground, still holding on to Mykas waist as tightly as she could despite her protesting shoulder. Their feet touched the ground before Myka let out a shuddering breath that HG could feel with chest pressed flush against her.

Myka looked to her rescuer, still mostly in shock. Her brain stuttered to a halt when she realized how close she was to Helena. She couldn’t seem to look away from her smoldering eyes, as breath brushed against her skin, those lips so temptingly close.

Myka released Helena all at once and took a step back.

She looked to where the SUV had driven off to and back to Helena, who had a smug grin spreading across her face as she retracted the rope on the device in her hand.

“Is that a grappler?” Myka demanded as she ran a hand through her curls, trying to control her body’s impulse to be near HG still.

“Yes it is,” Helena sounded giddy, “I designed it, finished building it last night while you were asleep, I was dying for a chance to use it.” She flinched internally at her own choice of words, but refused to show it, wishing to play off this incident and the urge she had to kiss Myka while they were pressed so tightly together before.

Myka snorted and looked away, searching for Claudia, not realizing how far she had wondered as she tried to get ahold of Pete.

“What?” Helena demanded.

“A grappler’s a bit old fashioned, don’t you think?” Myka turned to go back to where she left the redhead, glad that her voice was returning to normal.

“Well it seems to have saved your life, doesn’t it?” she demanded, trailing Myka closely.


	15. Highly Combustible

The first thing Pete noticed was the ambulance and police cars in the parking lot of Tamplin University. The second was the body bag being wheeled away. Steve and Pete exchanged a worried look as they threw the car into park and ran out.

Dread washed through them both as they wound themselves through the crowd that had gathered.

“What happened?” Pete asked the cop who was standing closest to the police tape.

“Hit and run,” he grumbled, hating that he was called in to work for something so simple a rookie could do it.

“Who?” Steve’s face was cracked with panic, but the police officer didn’t seem to notice.

“The wrestling coach,” the officer sighed, he actually liked the guy, he had been bringing some hope to their town and now… “Coach Tappon.”

“Oh thank god.” Pete sighed before he could think to keep his mouth shut.

The cop turned and rose an eyebrow at him, “Excuse me?”

“No, sorry,” Pete back peddled, “I was worried it had been a friend of mine is all, sorry.”

He and Steve backed quickly away from the icy glare and moved to search amongst the faces for the missing girls. Steve recognized Claudia’s red hair first and pointed Pete in the right directon.

“Oh thank god,” Claudia rolled her eyes as she noticed the boys approaching, “The mystery machine has finally returned with the purple goo.”

“You know, Claud,” Myka smiled, “You keep calling us the Scooby doo Gang, but we don’t really fit up with that image.”

“Dude, we are driving around solving mysteries with a boy who is perpetually hungry,” Claudia insisted, “And you’re totally Velma.” She added before dodging the shove Myka turned to give her.

Steve grabbed Claudia into a tight hug before he could stop himself. Claudia stood there awkwardly, not returning the hug but not rejecting it either, just utterly confused by it. “Uh, Jinksy? Do we need to have another talk about personal space?”

“Sorry,” He dropped the younger girl, “We saw police cars and a body bag and,” he trailed off looking to Pete for help.

“We were worried something happened to one of you,” he blushed and looked away.

The girls all looked to one another, fighting smiles, “Awwww.” They sang in unison.

“Yeah, yeah,” Pete rolled his eyes, “What did you guys find out?”

The three of them took turns catching them up, filling in blanks and correcting one another. They walked to the parked car, HG noticing Myka was a little hesitant to step once more into the parking lot, and pulled out the cylinder of neutralizer.

They dropped the medal in, but there was no reaction. They looked to one another. With the other two curiosities, the goo had reacted violently to touching them.

“So I guess we were wrong about the medal.” Helena sighed.

“Great,” Claudia shook off the goo, “Back to square fracking one.”

“Damn it,” Steve groaned, “Now what?”

“Well, we need to search Phillips room, check out the locker room once more, and I think we should talk to Garry again, he seemed to know something.” Myka tapped her foot.

“Okay, so how about Shaggy and Freddy go to the locker room, because I’m not doing that again,” Claudia shuddered as she motioned to Pete and Steve, “Velma and Daphne go ransack Phil’s dorm room since they seem to be good at that,” _and I don’t want to rifle through the kid who I just watched die’s room_ , she added for herself, “And I guess I could go talk to Garry.”

“Sounds good,” Myka smiled proudly at the redhead.

As they all went their separate ways once more, Myka put a hand on Claudia’s shoulder, “You do know that makes you Scooby Doo, right?” she chuckled.

“Hey, they named the show after him, didn’t they?” Claudia huffed, “I’m totally main-character material.”

* * *

“So,” Myka said offhandedly as she flipped looked in Phillip’s drawers, “You designed that gun yourself?” she was trying not to show how impressed she was, god knew that HG’s ego was big enough as it was.

“You are coveting my grappler,” HG smiled as she opened the laptop, “ _Old fashioned_ ,” she mimicked Myka’s voice.

The American rolled her eyes, “Admiring.” She corrected, “When did you have time to design and build a grappling gun?”

“I’ve been tinkering with it for a while,” HG’s voice was suddenly distracted, “I finished it while you were sleeping last night. Hey, come take a look at this.”

It was a series of photos, all of Phillip spanning the last three weeks. “He’s gone from a roly-poly to a perfect specimen.” Myka quirked her eyebrow at Helena’s choice of words, but didn’t otherwise comment.

“I’m sure these were helping,” she grumbled as she lifted one of the many empty energy drink bottles, scowling at the ingredients.

“Come,” HG stood, “Let’s go see if Claudia’s found something useful.”

* * *

“Oh great,” Garry rolled his eyes as he opened his door to the redhead from earlier, “What do you want.”

“Dude, you look like shit.” Claudia scoffed as she pushed past him.

“Thanks I feel fantastic, won’t you come in?” he said sarcastically before coughing into the crook of his arm.

“Look, I know you’ve lost two teammates and your coach,” Claudia walked around the room, letting her eyes wander over the different things in his room, it was so much more different than her own dorm, “But, believe it or not, I’m trying to help you guys. So tell me what you know about your coach.”

Garry hesitated, but gave in after a moment, “I don’t know what the coach was getting himself into. He just moved into a new house, we were winning, everything seemed to be going well. He was helping make a name for this town, we needed that more than ever with the bottling plant closing… But he had been acting strange lately. Like he was scared.”

 _And now he’s dead,_ Claudia sighed internally, “Look, we are doing our best to figure out what happened to Teddy and Phillip and Tappon, okay? We’ll figure something out. In the mean time,” Clauda added because the boy looked dead on his feet, “Stop drinking this crap,” she motioned to the empty energy drink bottles, “Drink some real water and get some sleep before you fall over yourself.”

He smiled sadly as she left his room.

* * *

The padlocked fridge drew the boys’ attention first. They looked to one another, communicating silently as they often did before moving to break the lock open with a weight.

The fridge was packed with orange energy drinks, something called Boiling Point Energy. They’d never heard of it, but it looked like a test label anyway. And a passing wrestling student who looked like he was going to be sick quickly explained that the coach had them drinking them all the time. They were some sort of testing group for the company that made it here in town.

That rose the question, why would you need to padlock a fridge?

Claudia, HG and Myka met up with them then, and they explained the weirdness of the locked fridge. Claudia’s eyes snapped up and she told them Garry’s room was filled with empty Boiling Point bottles, same for HG and Myka in Phillips room.

“So it’s in the drink?” Claudia questioned.

“There’s only one way to find out.” HG mumbled as she spilled a little of the vile smelling liquid into the purple goo. It let out electrical sparks and they all looked to one another.

“Okay, Pete,” Myka snapped into action, “You find all the wrestlers and tell them to stop drinking this crap. Get rid of what’s left of it. HG, Claudia and I will go to the bottling plant and figure out what’s causing this.”

Claudia explained to them on the drive to the plant that it was being sold off. They thought maybe this was someone’s way at getting back at the buyers.

A man in a suit that Myka recognized met them inside the giant warehouse. He was standing beside a man in a white lab coat. The second man was sifting uncomfortably on his feet back and forth, and HG didn’t trust him.

Jeff Russell, the owner and CEO of Boiling Point not to mention the benefactor of the wrestling team, walked whom he assumed were junior agents of some kind. They sure acted like they were in charge. Well, maybe not the young redhead. But the two older women held an air of authority about them. When he asked where they were from, HG and Myka exchanged a look.

“That’s need to know Mr. Russell.” The brunette crossed her arms, making herself appear even taller than she already was.

So Jeff allowed Dr. Mahoney to continue to try and convince them the drink was nothing more than sugar, electrolytes, caffeine and ginseng.

The girls nearly gave up, but Myka got an itch she couldn’t explain and turned her head. There, hanging on the catwalk next to the vat of Boiling Point waiting to be bottled, was a ladle. It appeared very old and made of iron. It made Myka think of the key and she bound up the stairs to it.

“This,” Myka pointed at it, looking to the men who had followed her. “How long has this ladle been here?”

“What?” Jeff pulled back, “I don’t know. Forever, why does it matter?”

“Myka,” HG’s tone of voice grabbed al their attention, it was fearful but giddy, an odd combination to be sure, “I recognize that from folk lore.” She said in reference to the college literature class Myka had decided not to take.

“What is it?” she lifted it from its hanging hook.

“It’s Godfrid’s spoon,” Helena explained, though she made no move to take it from Myka, “The Viking prince. It’s said to have been forged from the armor of fallen warriors. The men would drink from it before battle. Myka,” HG had on her face that Claudia recognized as her puzzle solving victory face, “It would endow them with strength.”

“Claudia, goo this.” Myka quickly handed the spoon over to the techie who was removing the silver canister from her shoulders.

When Claudia’s hands wrapped around the ladle, Dr. Mahoney let out an enraged cry and lunged. He ripped the spoon out from Claudia’s hands, shoving her backwards has he did so.

“Claudia!” both girls cried out, Helena as already moving, running around to pull her out of the vat. Myka turned her attention on the doctor. She moved quickly, placing one foot behind him and one hand on the ladle before shoving him. He relinquished the spoon and tumbled down the metal steps.

He moaned at the bottom, but Myka held no sympathy for him.

The doctor used that spoon in every batch of Boiling Point made. Jeff Russell wanted him to design an energy drink to help the wrestlers and he did. He didn’t expect the adverse reaction of spontaneous combustion. He hid the incidents as best he could, took out the coach when he got scared, because he had a stake in the company. He stood to make quite a bit of money when the company sold.

He tried to explain this as Myka twisted his arm behind his back and lifted him, pushing him around to the opposite side where HG was sitting a coughing Claudia up.

“Myka, her skin is absorbing it,” Helena’s voice was heavy with worry as she frantically moved Claudia’s hair from her face. The redhead didn’t look good.

“What will happen to her?” Myka shoved the doctor forward.

He didn’t seem to want to answer, but he didn’t have a choice, “It seems the more they take, the faster the… reaction. You’re friend has little more than an hour.”

There was the sound of rushing blood and HG was shouting at him. Something about amino acids, but Myka could follow. It was insane how attached to these two girls Myka had become, she could stand to lose either of them now.

The doctor was shoved to the floor once more. Myka grabbed the grappling gun from Helena’s hip. HG tried not to gasp at the contact, she focused instead on the fear filled face of Dr. Mahoney as Myka pointed the business end of the grappler at him.

“You and my partner are going to go to your lab,” Myka said through teeth, “And you are going to make something that will fix our friend, or so help me god,” she didn’t finish her threat before the man agreed.

Helena went with him while Jeff Russell helped Myka carry Claudia.

“Stay with me Claud,” Myka plead as they stumbled through the factory, “Come on.”

“Is it warm in here or am I wearing 38 snuggies?” Claudia’s voice was riddled with equal parts pain and lethargy, but it was good to hear her still joking.

They put her in a metal tub filled with ice, trying to stave off the impending flames.

Myka paced a lot while HG worked double time to make the counter agent. Claudia seemed to get worse by the minute, the ice was quickly turning to water with her increased body temperature. Myka left for a moment, which concerned Helena, but she only went to find where she dropped the spoon, and to call Pete and Steve.

The boys paid a cabbie to get them there in half the time it would normally take.

Myka tried to put the spoon in the purple goo. It sparked brilliantly, but it had no effect on Claudia’s condition.

“She’s too far into the process I think,” Helena sighed without looking away from her work. She’d heard what Myka was trying, heard her swear when it didn’t work, “Her body has already absorbed it. This is our only hope now.”

They finished just in time. “This isn’t going to taste very good I’m afraid.” Helena warned before she stuck a medicine dropper into Claudia’s mouth.

The techie gagged but swallowed. Its effects quickly became apparent as she became more lucid, “Oh god, did I combust? If that ass hole made me combust I’m going to be supper pissed.”

Myka and HG chuckled at her words, but it was over shadowed by a cry of pain behind them. Pete and Steve had arrived, and someone hit the doctor over the head with a two by four. Not hard enough to cause permanent damage, but enough to knock him out.

They rushed to the tub and pulled Claudia out of it. Hugging her each in turn.

The girls smiled at their relief, and Claudia blushed madly, “How many times are you going to hug me today?”

She didn’t understand that the boys had become just as attached as Myka had. Each viewing her as a little sister. And the worry that had them paying ridiculous cab fare had been all consuming until they found her safe and alive again. Steve hugged Claudia tighter. He had already lost one sister, he wasn’t about to let that happen again.

They turned to Jeff Russell, Myka spoke while the three other elder students provided glares.

“Recall the drink,” she ordered, before pointing to the incapacitated doctor, “Turn him into the police, I don’t care what story you have to tell them. But I think we would greatly appreciate it if you left us and the spoon out of it.”

He agreed vehemently, though he was still clearly dazed and confused.

They walked out of the factory and towards the car in a group. Laughing came easy when they were this tired. They were so happy that they were still a whole unit after this case, they didn’t want to be out of one another’s sight, at least for now.

They moved the mattresses form the beds to the floor in the living space of their hotel room. They lay, Claudia laying head to toe with Steve on one mattress, Myka and HG side by side, though not quite touching, on the other while Pete claimed the couch. They laughed and exchanged stories for a few hours before falling to sleep one after the other. They realized that night that they had found a new family in the group around them. Despite each of them having a rocky past, they could be happy here.


	16. Enough Loss to Go Around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY BACK STORY BATMAN! The next two back stories are out of the narrative, go ahead and assume these tales were shared at some point on the road trip, yeah? (there’s drug usage in this chapter, I don’t condone it, *insert gif of a pup named Scooby doo saying “Drugs, yuck!” from that one episode where they used dolphins as drug mules.)

 Steve and Claudia filled a hole in each other’s lives. A hole that, before they met, was painful and throbbed at the touch.

Steve Jinks had a tough time as a kid. He was different and kids could be cruel. If it weren’t for his sister, Olivia, he never would have made it. She was his confidant, his sounding board, his best and sometimes only friend. She was the first person she told when he was ready to come out as gay.

He was fourteen, just coming out of his shell and making friends, and so sacred of being ostracized once more by his peers. Olivia hugged him and told him it would be alright, that she loved him no matter who he loved. He cried until he was cried out. Then she watched movies with him all day until he was laughing again.

She sat holding his hand as he told their parents.

This brought another wave of tears as their mother looked as if she had been slapped in the face and his father looked like he wanted to slap Steve in the face. There was a lot of yelling until Olivia called for it to stop. For the first time that Steve had seen, her sister yelled at their parents. Talking down on them as she rose to stand in front of her little brother and they were pushed back by her presence. She told them that he was their son still, he was the same person who they loved five minutes ago.

She took him out for ice cream while they cooled down. His mom and dad never talked about that day, never brought up Steve’s sexuality. He figured they wanted to go back living blissfully unaware. But that was okay with him, because at school, his friends accepted him wholly. And his sister would always be there for him.

It was two years later when it happened.

She had gone to college in Jersey so she could stay at home, her plan was to leave with Steve when he graduated at the end of the following year. She didn’t want to leave him in a house with parents who largely ignored his existence. But, like those kids on the playground in primary school, fate can be cruel.

It started as a head ache. Not a big deal, Olivia got migraines all the time. But the days stretched on and no amount of pain killers were helping, and she was starting to hallucinate. She hadn’t told her parents that part, hadn’t even meant to tell Steve, but he walked in while she was having a conversation with a figment of her imagination.

It was Steve who forced his parents to drive his sister to the hospital. Once there, Olivia insisted that he go to school, that she was in good hands and it would be okay. Steve didn’t want to go, but his parents took Olivia’s side, and Steve’s father dropped him outside of the office without so much as a goodbye.

He never got a chance to speak to his sister again. To say goodbye. It was a tumor. Her brain swelled and she seized. There was nothing the doctors could do, the cancer was too far spread to hope of recovery even if she hadn’t coded after her seizer.

Olivia had known she hadn’t had much time. She couldn’t explain it, but as the taste of rust filled her mouth with a sense of foreboding, she grabbed the pen and pad from her side table by the hospital bed and wrote a note to her brother. She handed it to her nurse just before the seizure took her. It was over before anyone realized what happened. Her brain bled and her life was gone.

When the nurse saw a blonde sixteen year old boy looking so lost in the waiting room, she walked to him. “You’re Steven Jinks, right?”

He nodded absently, too consumed by his sudden loss to be present in anything other than body.

She handed him a note, “Olivia… your sister handed me this note just before…” she trailed off. The nurse had seen a lot in her time, but the despair that radiated from him brought tears to her own eyes.

It was short, and Steve read it over and over, fingers tracing the lines of the pen as tears flowed freely down his face.

_I love you Steve, stay strong._

That was the first tattoo he got. The day he turned eighteen his best friend drove him to the tattoo parlor and had her hand writing permanently imprinted on the skin of his forearm. It served as a reminder every day. Gave him the strength to pick himself up and go on.

He left to California a week later. His boyfriend, Liam, had gone the year before, and he followed him out there, accepted to the same school.

College was a completely different experience for Steve. It was liberating to no longer live under his father’s thumb, though since the death of his sister, his parents made an effort to be better to Steve. He hoped it would be better.

When Liam broke things off with Steve a little over a month into his first semester, he wondered what he was going to do with himself. Liam had been a rock for him and now…

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” Peter Lattimer stopped him in the hallway after class and introduced himself.

* * *

Claudia had trouble remembering her parent’s faces, or the voice of her sister. They died when she was eight. They had only gone out to get ice cream. They would be gone fifteen minutes tops.

She stayed home with her brother, Joshua, but she may as well have been left alone. He holed himself up in the basement turned office. Joshua was smart, too smart for his own good sometimes. He hated how much he had to dumb himself down to talk to people. It was a near physical pain that he kept at bay with pharmaceutical grade antianxiety meds.

It left him in a drugged up stupor some days, but mostly no one noticed but Claudia, who was always too observant for an eight year old. She idolized her big brother. He was smart and doing important work as he went to school. But she could tell he had two moods, working and drugged up. It wasn’t like when she was younger and he would play with her. Now he only came home on Christmas and Spring break.

He was in the basement popping pills when there was a heavy knock on the door.

A big police officer with a sad turn to his mouth knelt down to her eye level. “I’m officer Dickenson, what’s your name?”

“Claudia Donavan.” She replied, standing up straighter, she wanted to be taken seriously like the grownups.

“Is there anyone else here, Claudia?” he asked, sighing to himself.

Claudia went to get Joshua. He yelled at her for being in his office, but when she said there was a police officer at the door, he grabbed an orange bottle and upended it in the sink. He lifted her to his hip, though she was almost too big for this kind of thing, and went up the stairs.

He slowly set her down as Officer Dickenson told him about the car accident. The ice slicked roads, the drunk driver pushing them into a mac truck… No one survived the impact.

Joshua was all the family Claudia had left. He tried for a few months to do the right thing and raise her. But he couldn’t handle it. He convinced himself that she would be better off with another family, so he left her to the foster system as he lost himself in his work.

All Claudia knew was that she was suddenly alone in the world, all of her possessions were able to fit in a back pack and after her first night of crying at the girls’ home, she taught herself to hide her emotions. To keep everyone out, because what was the point in getting close to someone if they would ultimately leave you in the end?

By the time she was sixteen, Claudia had been in twelve different foster homes. She was smart and easily bored. If she even bothered to go home at night, she would cause trouble for the foster parents and her foster siblings.

She graduated two years early and got herself emancipated. She spent the next year working her ass off to save up for college, applying to ever scholarship possible until she could finally flip the bird to the run down city she ended up in and leave for California.

She never allowed herself to get close to anyone, so there was no one to say goodbye to. The high of leaving wore off on the train ride to California and nervous fear shot through her. She could reinvent herself here, who would she be? She had never made friends, but she had convinced herself that’s because she didn’t try. She wondered if her dorm mate would like her. If she didn’t, Claudia could survive, but it would be another blow to her self-esteem.

When she opened her dorm door, she was met with a smiling girl who extended a hand as she brushed black hair back with the other, “Hello, I’m Helena Wells, and you must be Claudia.”

* * *

Claudia had lost her family, she resented her real brother who she hadn’t spoken to in five years. Steve lost the one person in his life who ever truly cared about him.

Claudia reminded Steve so much of Olivia, though he wasn’t sure why. He felt connected to her and do what it took to protect her the way Olivia had protected him. He loved Pete and Myka, they had taken him in and made him strong enough to be on his own. But in one week, he knew Claudia would be the one to get close to him despite the walls he kept up.

It was odd for Claudia to suddenly be surrounded by people who cared about her so much. It was a dysfunctional family at best, but with her knowledge of “real” families, she loved this one infinitely more. Steve was a better brother than Joshua ever had been. Myka was the sister she lost. HG made sure she was taken care of every day. Pete was the goofball who could make her laugh no matter what. They filed her with a sense of belonging.


	17. Smoking or Nonsmoking?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last artifact of the road trip. For those of you keeping track of the days, it’s Thursday. They stayed an extra day at the University so Claudia could recover.

Raymond kicked the tire of the SUV when Sandra returned with a shake of her head.

They had stayed in Monterey, trying to recover any images from the surveillance cameras, but it was to no avail. And it seemed the longer they spoke to Evans, the less sure he became about his story. All they had to go on was his sketch.

Macpherson had called them, infuriated that they couldn’t catch a group of kids. He called them off the hunt temporarily, an artifact disturbance at a college requiring attention. Information was coming in slow, but it looked like whatever it was, was causing wrestlers spontaneously combust.

That’s where they were now. It had taken them a bit, but they figured out the bottling plant was involved somehow. Sandra had gone in while Raymond had called their supervisor on the Farnsworth.

She spoke to the CEO, but it had been a short interview. Their chief chemist had turned himself in for the hit and run that killed the wrestling coach, and Russlle was closing the plant down, hoping to salvage the sale that looked like it was going to fall through.

She asked him a slew of strange questions, all of which he remained evasive in answering. Finally, he told her that the problem was gone, had been dealt with and wouldn’t be a issue anymore.

Sandra pulled out the sketch of their female suspect and held it up for Jeff Russell to look at. She saw the spilt second of recognition before his face returned to neutral. “Sorry, I’ve never seen that woman before in my life.”

His voice was tinged with fear, but she couldn’t get him to budge, and when she pushed too far, he invited her to leave.

Sandra told her partner that their artifact thief had been there, but the CEO wasn’t talking. They figured something had happened to scare him quiet.

“Who are these guys?” Raymond demanded.

“I don’t know,” Sandra looked agitated, “Call the boss back, and tell him to look for hits in California. I have a hunch.”

“You seriously think these people are staying in California?” Raymond tested, “If I were them I would have sold the cutlass and the spoon and gotten the hell out of dodge and bought an island somewhere.”

* * *

Santa Barbara was a nice change for the five exhausted students. It was spring, but no one told the northern half of California that it meant it was supposed to be getting warmer. The curiosity hunters were seriously looking forward to being able to take their jackets off and walk along the shoreline without risking hypothermia.

Myka looked longingly out the window of the hotel room as they got settled in. She watched the lazy ocean hug the shore and hoped they would have time enough for her to feel the waves lap against her feet.

“Claudia,” HG took her eyes form Myka’s yearning face, “Perhaps we should hurry up and solve this particular puzzle rather quickly, get this curiosity out of the way.”

“I agree with HG,” Pete chimed in, “We need a vacation from this vacation.”

“Well, this is the only ping left in California that my program detected,” Claudia sighed and pulled her laptop from her bag before collapsing on to the couch heavily. _Who knew almost dying could take so much out of you_ , she thought to herself, “So, unless you guys want to travel

They gathered around her, each hoping this curiosity would be infinity easier than the last two. They were done with this sword fighting and nearly dying thing. They wanted to lay back and relax, take five minutes to just breathe.

They could have stopped at any minute. Decided this wasn’t for them, wasn’t their problem and gone back home to their normal lives, no one ever asked them to run around collecting deadly curiosities. But the thought never crossed their minds. While it was exhausting and dangerous work, this week was the most fun they had ever had.

“Okay, so there has been really bizarre weather patterns the last few weeks,” she began, squinting at the screen, “Random, unpredictable and highly localized.”

“Bizarre how?” Steve leaned forward, Claudia’s tired mumbling was making it difficult to hear, but he didn’t want to ask her to speak up.

“Well, Santa Barbra High School is currently closed because of snow.” She shook her head in disbelief while the others all looked out one of the windows to see a warm cloudless day, “There’s also been thunderstorms, tornados and hail.”

“Oh my,” Helena supplied dryly, smiling when Myka smirked in response to her literary humor.

“Where have these incidents taken place?” Myka asked, “Besides at the high school.”

“Let’s see…” Claudia typed a few keys, “at the park by the school, at some local business strip, and in a neighborhood close to the school as well. Seems like people are getting pissed at the weather man for not warning them, but no one’s freaking out too badly, yet.”

Something all three of them learned in the last two years was Californians were weird. It took a lot to get their attention, perhaps if the coast had fallen off to the ocean, or if this curiosity had effected Los Angeles instead. As it was, the locals gave a “huh”, before readjusting their sunglasses and turning back to their mochachinos and iPhones.

“Call me crazy,” Pete held his hands up.

“If you insist.” HG rolled her eyes and Myka nudged her.

“But I’m thinking a kid has our curiosity,” Pete ignored Helena, “The places these things are happening makes it sound like a teenager.”

“A teenager has a curiosity that, what, controls the weather?” Steve rose an eye brow, “That’s a scary thought.”

“That’s actually a good idea Pete,” Myka did her best not to sound too surprised, “Okay, Claud, See what Santa Barbra High students live in that affected neighborhood. If we can find him, we can take this thing and be done.”

One student, Leroy Grey, lived in the affected area, and his house was the only one not too badly damaged by the hailstorm that fell on them three weeks prior. Clouds had formed and ice rained down so swiftly, people were dumbfounded. It started as golf ball sized and grew to the size of a softball before it stopped, just as suddenly as it began.

Claudia tried to stand to go with them, but she wobbled and Steve pushed her to sit back down, “I think you should stay here and rest up Claud.” He insisted.

She might have resisted if her eyelids didn’t feel so heavy, and if her muscles weren’t still burning like they were about to set on fire any moment. Not as bad as when she first fell in the vat, it was fading away, just not as quickly as Claudia wished it to.

“If you say so, Jinksy.” Claudia huffed, but reached for her bag, “Here, at least take this.” She handed him a bizarre looking gun.

“Hey, I thought that didn’t work right.” Myka objected, remembering the night on the _Check Mate_ when Helena tried to shoot Claudia’s tazer gun and nothing happened.

“Don’t worry, darling,” Helena smiled, “I helped make some adjustments to it with Claudia yesterday. It should work fine now.”

“I would have thought to use tesla coils eventually.” Claudia mumbled and Steve smiled at how adorable she looked when she was grumpy.

Pete ruffled her hair as they walked to, dodging the pillow she launched at him Steve drapped a blanket over her, HG made her a cup of tea and Myka made sure all her little gadgets were in arms reach. It touched Claudia that they were so concerned, and it may have embarrassed her if not for the slumber dragging her under.

They whispered their good byes, and Claudia was asleep before they got to the car.

* * *

Leroy Grey had found the white pipe three days ago while working his part time job at the pawn shop.

It came in a shipment with a bunch of other old crap, but the white tobacco pipe had caught his eye. He traced over the intricate designs, the windmills that stood out against it. Leroy thought about how cool he would look using that pipe and pocketed it without adding it to the inventory list. It wasn’t the first thing he lifted from work, and it most likely would not be the last, so he didn’t even think about it.

It wasn’t until later that he discovered what it could do. He was trying to smoke his weed out of it and accidently brought a hail storm to his house. Not really a big deal, he convinced himself it was a fluke, a mere coincidence blown out of proportion by his drug induced paranoia. Then, at the park with his friends, he used it again and a lightning storm appeared out of nowhere above them, soaking them to the bone and driving them from the park. He played it off in front of his friends, but when he was alone once more, he was able to raise the temperature outside ten degrees.

He practiced with it, soon he was able to target specific things, conjure up different whether anomalies to fit his needs or wants of the hour.

He sent a tornado ripping through the pawn shop because he hated his boss and thought it would be funny. It was, and he got the week of from work to boot. He brought freezing rain down on Providence High, because those stuck up privet school kids deserved to be knocked down a few rungs. Forty kids got the flu and one a mild case of pneumonia.

He grew giddy with the power he was slowly gaining. He didn’t realize the toll the pipe was taking on his body, and it wasn’t just the drugs. It was slowly using his life force to draw its power. The only time he felt okay now was when he was using the pipe in some fashion or other.

And when he woke that morning, feeling exhausted and not wanting to deal with the prospect of school today, he caused a snowstorm just over the school’s head. He promptly went back to sleep, ignoring his mother when she said she was leaving for work, only to be woken a few hours later to pounding on his front door.

A big guy and a hot English chick stood on his porch when he pulled back the door.

“Leroy Grey?” the man spoke first.

“Yeah?” Leroy looked him up and down.

“We are from… the recovery department,” Pete said quickly, and HG was secretly proud of him for thinking on his feet, “I’m agent Lattimer, this is Agent Wells. We need to ask you a few questions.”

“Have you taken something that is quite old?” Helena watched his face closely, “Perhaps something that has allowed you to snow out your school for the day?”

“That’s ridiculous!” Leroy protested, but they could both hear the panic in his voice, his eyes darting around and his hands shaking.

Whatever the curiosity was, it was clearly taking a toll on the seventeen year old.

There was a crash behind him towards his bedroom and he ran back to it, forgetting all about the two agents at the door. Fear someone would find his pipe filling him. He needed that pipe, they couldn’t take it, it was his!

Pete reached out to stop him, knowing Myka and Steve hadn’t had enough time to look for the curiosity yet. Pete’s hand on his shoulder, he spun him back around. Leroy grabbed a vase from the shelf beside him and tried to hit Pete over the head with it, missing by only a few centimeters.

“You can’t have the pipe!” Leroy shouted angrily at him as they grappled, “It’s mine!”

Leroy was a scrawny teenager, but he fought like a man possessed, and it was hard for Pete to fight him without harming the boy in the process. Pete finally pushed the boy away from himself, and just in time, it would seem, as the sound of electricity filled the air and Leroy’s body jerked before he fell to the floor in a heap, unconscious for the time being.

Steve stood pointing Claudia’s tesla coil gun, a look of joyous awe on his face, “It worked. It actually worked!”

“I’ll be sure and tell Claudia of your absolute surprise.” Helena rolled her eyes.

“And where were you, HG?” Pete asked, his breathing still heavy from the scuffle, his hands on his knees as he glared up at her.

“You seemed to have handled yourself just fine, _Agent_ Lattimer.” She smirked.

“You could have used your crazy karate stuff on him and made it a whole lot easier for me.” Pete grumbled.

“Excuse me, Peter,” Helena’s tone made it feel as if the room had dropped a few degrees, “I do not wish to hurt people. Kempo is dangerous, I did not like using it in the library, I am not going to use it on a child!”

“Hey!” Myka’s voice cut off the argument that was sure to ensue as she called from the bed room, “Do you guys mind saving that for later and helping me find the curiosity before he comes to?”

“It’s a pipe.” Pete’s voice turned apologetic as he looked from Myka’s stern face to HG’s angry, but hurt expression. She was troubled that he believed her capable of hurting someone if there was another choice.

They tossed his room, not that you could tell with the pig sty the kid was living in, and finally found the long white pipe.

“Richard E. Byrd,” Helena smiled gleefully as she looked at the unassuming pipe.

Myka grinned as she closed her hand around it and nodded, “I’ve seen the picture of him with this hanging from the corner of his mouth.”

“Who?” Pete and Steve said in unison.

“Richard E. Byrd,” Helena repeated, “He was a naval officer and explorer in the early twentieth century. He was the first person to reach both the North and South Pole by air. This is his tobacco pipe.”

“Do you think there is anyone in history who hasn’t left a curiosity or two behind?” Myka shook her head.

“I hope not,” HG’s tone turned wistful, “I would be delighted to find objects from quite a few people in the past who made contributions to our society. Couldn’t you just imagine, holding something from one of the great queens or kings, the philosophers and physicists…”

“Whoa,” Pete shook his head, “You know, you look all normal and pretty, but you are just as big of a nerd as she is, aren’t you?” he smiled as he pointed a finger at his best friend.

“Are you insinuating I’m not pretty?” Myka put her hands on her hips and glared at Pete.

Helena moved to stand beside her, crossing her arms over her chest, “Yes, Peter, is that what you were trying to say?”

Pete looked like a deer caught in the head lights, his mind grasping for some way to fix what he said, “What? No, no, of course not, Mykes you’re pretty. Of course your pretty, I just meant…” he blushed deeply.

The girls burst into laughter before pushing past Pete, “Thanks Pete,” Myka chuckled, “Me ego is sufficiently inflated. I think we had better leave though.”

They all nodded in agreement before leaving, stepping over Leroy’s snoring body before walking out the still open door. HG locked it, though she wouldn’t let Pete watch how.

“Did this feel a little too easy to anyone else?” Steve asked as they got in the car.

“Easy?” Pete asked as he buckled in, “ _Easy?_ I almost got bludgeoned to death by a stoner seventeen year old! Easy…” he grumbled unintelligibly.

“I wouldn’t have let Leroy kill you, Pete,” HG rolled her eyes at what she perceived was an overreaction to the whole situation.

“That’s not what I meant, anyway, Pete.” Steve insisted, “I mean, it’s not lunch yet, and we have the curiosity snagged and bagged. Just feels a little anticlimactic after the other ones we’ve gathered.”

“Don’t jinx it Jinks!” Pete took a moment to laugh at his own dumb joke, “The day is still young, and I for one would like to spend the remainder of this road trip relaxing.”

“I thought you would be more interested in convincing Claudia to make you a tesla gun.” Steve smirked.

“Why, do you think she would make me one?” Pete went from being sullen to a happy puppy with the flip of a switch, “Because that thing is really cool.”

“Maybe if you ask nicely, she’ll get you one for Christmas.” Steve laughed.


	18. It's All Fun and Games

Claudia was passed out on the couch when they returned. They let her sleep as they quietly got ready to spend a few hours at the beach. Helena knew it was a miracle if she got any sleep under normal circumstances, they were not about to deprive her of whatever time she managed to get now.

HG wrote her roommate a note, explaining that they had neutralized the curiosity and her tesla gun had worked marvelously, and that they would be at the beach for the foreseeable future, yes she was taking her phone and yes she had left the tracking chip Claudia installed in it.

The presence of the tracker did not bother HG like it may have most people. Mostly because she had put a tracking device in some of Claudia’s things as well so that, in the event that the girl ever turn up missing, she could find her. Neither had much trust in the police to find missing persons.

HG had gotten dressed in the bathroom that was connected to the girls’ bedroom. She exited just in time to watch Myka pull a loose grey t-shirt over a blue bathing suit top.

It seemed to happen in slow motion for the Brit, and she gulped as her eyes carefully traced the toned stomach of the taller woman, praying for the day she might get to trace the pale skin lightly with her fingers, her lips…

Helena snapped back to the present as Myka turned to look at her, jaw slackened and eyebrows quirked.

Apparently, there was nothing HG didn’t look stunning in, including the quite revealing black bikini. Myka couldn’t take her eyes off of HG, her mind traveling to a thought she had no idea originated from. She imagined laying in the bed with her, making constellations of the small freckles that dotted her body.

 Helena pretended not to notice Myka’s lingering eyes, since she had just been ogling Myka herself, and the thought of Myka’s bright green eyes gazing at her with the same intent she had filled her with a warmth she couldn’t yet put a name to. She pulled on a tank top and shorts, seeming to ease some of the heavy tension surrounding them.

No words were spoken as they stood quietly in the room, each wondering if the other could somehow have read their lustful thoughts. Pete called for them from the other side of the door, breaking them from their own minds as he asked why girls always took so long to get ready.

They drove to the nearest beach, walking until they found the least crowded spot before setting up their umbrella’s and huge towels. The boys stripped their shirts before grabbing the football one of them grabbed.

Myka figured it must’ve been a Y chromosome thing, to want to competitively pass a ball back and forth on the beach. They tried to show each other up in both their catching and throwing abilities. Myka realized it was an excuse for them to talk to other beach goers after watching them for a few minutes with a small smile, just enjoying the peaceful sounds around her.

She toed off her shoes before slowly walking to the tumultuous ocean, admiring the horizon where infinite blue met infinite blue. She breathed deeply, allowing the salt air to fill her, making her lighter.

Helena had followed her, staying quiet. She was more than happy to just watch as her friend enjoyed this moment.

Myka squealed when the freezing water brushed over her toes for the first time. Helena choked back a laugh and Myka threw a glare at her, refusing to move out of the water’s reach, determined to grow used to it.

“I don’t see _you_ getting your feet wet, HG,” Myka’s glare transformed into a conspiratorial smile as she stalked towards Helena.

“Myka, think about what you’re doing!” HG plead as she stumbled backwards.

Myka kicked water up at her, causing HG to yelp and scowl indignantly as the woman who had plastered on a far too innocent expression.

“Oh, now you’re in for it.” HG warned with a dark chuckle before sending water spraying towards Myka.

Myka jumped back laughing, and a splash fight ensued between the two. It was quickly interrupted when each of them where picked up and tossed into deeper waters.

They resurfaced, sputtering and pushing their hair out of their faces, just in time to see Pete and Jinks high five one another. Victorious grins spread over their mouths.

The two girls looked at each other as they stood in water that came as high as their thigh.

“Team up?” Myka tilted her head.

“Well, we _do_ make a fantastic team,” Helena nodded, “Wells and Bering.”

“Bering and Wells,” Myka smiled.

“If you insist, darling,” HG allowed.

All notions of being mature adults dissolved as what would later become known as The Great Ocean War of 2013 broke out.

Myka jumped Pete while HG and Steve got into a heated splash fight. They were all equally soaked, but it was beginning to look like the boys were going to win this one. That it, until Claudia showed up with three high powered water guns and teamed up with Myka and Helena.

Claudia had awoken twenty minutes after they left, irrational anger filling her as it always did after a midday nap. When she found HG’s note, however, her outlook brightened considerably as an idea grabbed her.

She had this thought, this belief that there was nothing better than siblings doing silly things together, like water balloon fights and game nights. But she never could do that before. But with Steve, Helena, Pete and Myka, she could.

So, she changed into shorts and a t-shirt, bought a few water guns from a Walmart, and tracked her roommate down.

“That’s cheating!” Pete protested as he tried using a squirming Steve as a shield from their sprays.

“The rules of fair play do not apply to love and war!” Helena shouted back before shooting Pete in the face with alarming accuracy.

“John Lyly.” Myka smiled at hearing the original quote spoken aloud by another, “Nice,” she complemented her fellow bibliophile before hitting Steve with another stream.

“Claudia!” Steve objected, “I thought we were B-F-F-W-I-L-O-N?!”

Claudia sighed dramatically, “Normally I would say uteruses before duderuses, but he had a point,” She pulled out two smaller water guns and tossed them to the boys to defend themselves with.

They continued until a truce was called. Myka and Pete were the last ones aiming at one another. They held up their guns, each eyeing the other suspiciously. It wasn’t until Helena pulled Myka towards the laid out towels that the war was officially over.

They let the low hanging sun dry their sopping clothes, and Myka tried not to notice how tightly HG’s wet clothes clung to her body as she lay back.

She instead focused on the how the setting sun set the world on fire in the most beautiful way. Helena was as mesmerized by Myka’s visage in the stunning light as Myka was with the way the light refracted off the ocean.

“Starving,” was all Pete had to say before they all realized how hungry they were.

They made their way to a place called Stephen’s Bar and Grill that looked pretty popular with the locals. They were lucky a booth opened up just as they arrived.

Claudia sat squished between Pete and Steve since she was still shivering slightly from the cold. Myka and HG sat with their thighs pressed tightly together, though there was more room on the bench to spread out. This fact did not escape Steve’s notice and he smiled to himself.

Pete ordered enough food to feed an army, and the others weren’t much better. But by the time their feast actually arrived to their table, each had forgotten what they ordered and they ended up sharing everything.

A mildly inappropriate game of truth and dare sent them into a laughing fit every five minutes. Steve and Pete mostly picked dare. Claudia alternated between the two while HG mostly picked truth. Myka had managed to avoid being called on, since it had become a revenge game between Pete, Steve and Claudia pretty quickly.

But her luck ran out when Steve smirked knowingly at her. She gulped in fear. With Pete throwing a pickle at an irritating man a few tables over, Claudia admitting to playing some on line role playing game for three days straight, Steve eating a spoonful of pure salt and HG explaining in unabashed detail her first kiss, Myka figured it was only a matter of time before they turned on her.

“Truth or dare?” Steve focused on her, his eyes glinting menacingly.

Myka almost said truth, but then thought of all the questions Steve could ask that she would be forced to answer and she quickly blurted dare.

Everyone but Steve looked surprised by her choice.

“You have two options,” he said before leaning over the table to whisper in Myka’s ear, too low to be heard by anyone else.

Myka suddenly stiffened next to Helena, making the inventor insanely curious as Myka’s face became flush. She pulled back, looking mildly ill, “What’s my second option?”

Steve looked around, trying to find something his roommate would be less likely to do in lieu of his first dare. His eyes fell on the manager setting up a small stage with a sign advertising tonight as open mic night. He smiled wickedly.

“Or, you can sing for open mic night.” He gestured to the stage. Steve figured he had the shy girl backed into a corner now. He almost had her, too, if it weren’t for Claudia.

“Oh! Oh!” She bounced in her seat, “Do it, Mykes! I’ll do it with you! It’ll be fun!”

Myka weighed the two options in her head. Normally, with the help of a bit of liquid courage, she would have accepted her fate with the first option. She never sang unless she was in the shower and the radio was on. But with Claudia up there to back her up, it wouldn’t be so bad, maybe it would even be a little fun…

“I’ll sing.” Myka smiled smugly at a baffled Steve.

“Squeal of delight!” Claudia clapped before climbing over Steve’s lap, too impatient to let him get out of the way. She didn’t want Myka backing down now.

Their booth was one of the ones closest to the small stage, and Claudia pulled Myka with her as she spoke low to the manager. The manager looked from Claudia to Myka, considering something before she finally smiled and nodded, walking to a side room and reappearing with two well-loved acoustic guitars.

“You play right?” Claudia spoke as she handed one to Myka.

“How did you know?” Myka smiled sheepishly.

“Dude, fellow guitar players can recognize each other,” Claudia kept her straight face for exactly three seconds before in cracked with a smile, “Nah, I’m totally messing with you. It came up when I was checking you out. You took guitar classes as an elective in high school.”

“You’re kinda stalkerish, you know that?” Myka laughed as they tuned the guitars.

“You call it stalking,” Claudia shrugged, “I call it making sure my roommate made a good choice when deciding to be friends with you.”

Myka smiled, she thought it was very sweet the way Claudia and HG looked out for each other.

As they adjusted the height of the two microphones, they drew a little attention from their fellow patrons.

Myka felt her nerves bubble up. She looked to her own table and found Helena smiling encouragingly at her. That only made her more nervous, but Steve’s smirk had her finding her courage.

Myka began playing the first notes of _Something That I Want_ , and though they hadn’t planned it, Claudia smiled and added the sound of her guitar to it.

As the first lyrics spilled over Myka’s lips, Steve’s smug smile disappeared. For two people who had never practiced or played together before, Myka and Claudia’s voices harmonized extremely well.

But all HG noticed was Myka. She’s not sure what it was about that girl, but as soon as she had the guitar in her hands, before she even started playing, she had somehow defied the laws of the universe in which Helena lived and became even sexier.

Helena had been concerned for her friend. Usually shy and avoidant of the lime light, she thought Steve’s dare had been cruel and couldn’t even imagine what her other option had been. But Myka’s apprehensive expression had melted away until the curly haired brunette exuberated joy and confidence as she sang the fast paced song.

Her voice was absolutely beautiful as it hugged the range of notes easily, and she played the guitar as if she had been born holding it. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Myka so happy and full of life as when she was singing, so carefree.

And damn, if she had been irresistible before, it was nothing short of a miracle that HG didn’t start drooling over _this_ Myka.

And when Claudia and Myka finished their song, the other customers cheered and clapped, a few even whistled at them, calling for an encore. But Myka’s nerves were settling back into her body and she left the stage as quickly as possible, before giving the guitar back to the manager.

She looked embarrassed as people paid her complements and a college aged boy slipped her his number. Helena was so proud of her friend, but she had this sudden longing to stand and grab her, stake a claim that the world couldn’t ignore that would get these boys to stop flirting with Myka.

“Let’s go before they convince me to get back up there.” Myka was flushed and Helena had to resist the urge to kiss her.

“I didn’t know you could sing.” Pete grumbled as they drove away. He had known about the guitar playing, but he had never heard her sing, not really.

Myka just shrugged, “It’s never come up before.” She said simply.

They rode the happy high through the drive and up the elevator. Someone decided that for people who were basically living together, they didn’t know much about each other. That’s when Helena suggested a round of Never Have I Ever.

They each got a drink from the hotel’s fridge, with the exception of Pete who had a root beer.

“Right then, here’s the game,” HG explained as they gathered on the couches, “We go in a circle, and each person says, ‘Never have I ever,’ and then finish the sentence with saying something that you have never done. It someone else has done that, they have to take a drink.”

“I’ll start,” Myka suggested, “Never have I ever… gotten a tattoo, even though I really want one.”

Steve, HG and Claudia each took a drink. They all knew about Steve’s, they were visible, so they looked instead to the two engineering students.

“It was dumb and I had just turned 18, and HG didn’t stop me.” Claudia admitted before showing them a tattoo on her left shoulder blade that read Knock Knock in computer script, “When I was bored and would hack in high school, that’s the message I would leave.” She shrugged.

They looked to Helena next, “Oh I’m not sharing mine, I haven’t had nearly enough to drink for that.” She winked to Myka who reddened almost instantly.

“Never have I ever…” Pete began.

It was all in good fun, and the more they drank, the sillier the admissions got. When Claudia admitted she had never kissed a girl, she was the only one to not take a drink. No one knew who to question first, Myka or Steve.

Myka glared at Pete, “Spin the bottle, junior year of high school at Pete’s party. I kissed Lauren Miller, Juliet Moore and Kacey Lane. But to be fair, I also ended up having to kiss Kurt Smoller and about half of the football team. Because Pete called me a chicken.”

Claudia whistled at Myka but shot a look at HG, who appeared intrigued.

Then they turned to Steve, who gave them a shrug, “Hey, it’s college, I’m supposed to experiment, right?”

They continued on for a while, the game dissolving into stories, and Claudia was the first to fall asleep on the couch, followed by Steve. Pete stretched and his back cracked loudly before he mumbled and retreated to the bed in the boy’s room.

Myka and Helena wanted to continue talking, but they didn’t want to wake their friends, so they tiptoed to their room. Laughing drunkenly for no reason as they fell to the bed. They talked for hours, about what they could remember, but they relaxed into it, their bodies migrating closer and closer as it wore on.

“So you fence, you sing and play guitar,” Helena listed, “I feel like I am learning so much about you on this trip.”

“And yet, I feel like I know next to nothing about you.” Myka’s too observant eyes watched the hesitation in Helena’s dark eyes, it wasn’t as if she could have hidden it, laying as close together as they were, each laying on their side to face the other.

“Oh, I’m afraid I’m not terribly interesting, darling,” Helena deflected, and Myka allowed it, “But tell me one thing.”

Myka was mildly worried, because she was drunk and her brain to mouth filter didn’t work when she drank this much, she knew she would answer whatever question HG asked. It was truth or dare all over again. Did she dare?

Myka nodded, her eyes growing heavy as sleep began to take her.

“What did Steven dare you to do before you decided to sing? Which was absolutely beautiful, by the way.” Helena insisted with all the sincerity of a drunk who wasn’t used to it.

Myka yawned into her pillow, before smiling softly, “He dared me to kiss you.”

“You’ve kissed several other girls if I remember correctly,” Helena tried to keep her jealously from her tone, “So what fear came up that trumped your fear of public performance?”

Drunk Helena’s voice had a thicker accent, Myka noticed. It clouded her judgment more than the alcohol. So, even as she began to drift, she answered Helena honestly.

“I was afraid I would like it, and want to do it all the time.” She said sleepily.

Helena hid her blush in the pillow even though the only other person in the room was now fast asleep. Helena let her fingers trace over Myka’s face lightly, admiring the beauty a mere three inches from her face.

Even asleep their bodies drifted closer and closer, so that their limbs were intertwined and they shared in the heat.

It was the best night’s sleep either woman had ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can thank this post from tumblr for the singing: http://helenastacie.tumblr.com/post/44716926805


	19. Crashing Back to Reality

Helena woke in the morning, deliciously warm and happier than she remembered being in a long time. She slowly became aware of her surroundings, an arm wrapped tightly around her waist that was not hers, a body spooned around her.

HG tried to remember the events of the previous night that lead her here, but there was a reason she tended to avoid drinking. She rolled carefully, not wanting to wake her companion and alert them to her presence. She froze when she found Myka laying on the pillow beside her, wild hair splayed out like a halo.

Helena settled, not minding so much her predicament when she realized it was Myka she shared a bed with. And it wasn’t as if they hadn’t shared a bed before, but this was different, more intimate, and she remembered that while they stripped out of their salt water ruined clothing, they hadn’t bothered to put on more than the bare necessities before falling into the bed. So it was mostly flesh pressed against flesh as they shared the blanket.

A soft smile was playing at the edge of Myka’s lips, and Helena knew it wouldn’t take much to wake her, perhaps a soft kiss on those tempting lips of hers? Myka, even unconsciously, tightened her grip on HG and pulled her tighter to her body, igniting a fire that had been a mere spark in Helena before.

Myka hummed happily, and HG wondered what she was dreaming of that made her like this.

“Helena,”  Myka’s sleep drenched sigh had to be the sexiest thing HG had ever heard, and the fact it was _her_ name that Myka called out for in her sleep had lust racing through her veins as well as something else blooming in her chest.

She had trouble putting a name to it, and the feeling nearly consumed her. When she met this woman, she thought it was only lust and intrigue that kept her coming back like an alcoholic to the bottle. But now she could see she had been effected far more deeply than she thought.

It was as if this perfectly imperfect woman had wound her way into Helena’s heart, taken up residence and consumed her every waking moment. HG realized she didn’t mind that so much, she liked the thought of waking up with Myka like this every morning. She loved-

Helena’s eyes snapped open as her train of thought derailed at the thought of that word.

Panic filled her, and she knew if she didn’t extract herself from Myka soon she was going to wake the other girl with a full blown anxiety attack, then she would be faced with questions and concern and she couldn’t handle that right now.

Myka stirred a little as HG removed her arm. She could resist placing a soft kiss behind Myka’s ear, causing the other girl to hum contentedly before relaxing into the bed once more. HG grabbed a pair of jeans, Myka’s hoodie and her tennis shoes before tiptoeing out of the room.

She froze when she recognized Steve and Claudia’s sleeping forms. She thought about laughing, seeing them cuddle in their sleep, but the smile was wiped from her face when she remembered the situation she had just pulled herself away from. Their position was far more innocent as Claudia lay on Steve’s chest, and they were fully clothed...

HG pulled the jeans on quickly, trying not to fall and wake up the whole hotel. She shoved her feet in the sneakers as she pulled the Bering and Sons hoodie on. The scent of Myka surrounded her, and she took it in for a moment before walking out the door.

She needed to be away from this place, she needed fresh air to clear the confusing thoughts surrounding her.

She found herself walking along the shoreline, shoes in her hands, letting the cool water wash over feet. It was still early in the morning, she had only woken because her body had begun detoxing, and she felt terrible now that she was away from Myka.*

Thinking of the girl now caused her to pause and look out at the waves.

How was it possible to love someone you barely knew?

Only, that wasn’t really true. She felt as if she had known Myka for her entire life. She was the type of person Helena always hoped to meet but had long since given up believing actually existed. She was smart and beautiful, strong and caring, stubborn and selfless… Myka Bering was damn near perfect.

Helena had believed, or perhaps merely convinced herself, that she wanted little more than to dispel the fantasy that had spun around Myka. She lusted after Myka in a way both familiar and foreign to her, she wanted to be with her, but not just for one night, not just for a while, but for as long as she possibly could.

And sometime between seeing her read H.G. Wells’ books across campus and watching her stammer her way through an introduction, Helena had fallen for Myka. It was slow at first.

She fell in love with the way Myka spoke about things she was passionate about, that light in her summer green eyes that brightened when she started to speak about what she loved, her hand movements she would make when explaining something, the massive smile that would slip on to her face when she noticed Helena was listening intently.

She fell in love with the way Myka acted with her friends. She could laugh, in a cadence that woke Helena’s soul, with Pete one moment, and berate him for foolishness the next. She was so fiercely protective of Claudia even though she hardly knew the girl.

She fell in love with the way Myka poured herself into her words as she wrote. How she could lose herself in a book for hours.

Then, she fell for her all at once. It was this road trip, she was sure. Having to share a bed with the woman who drove her mad every night. Each taking turns saving one another. Seeing her so in her element with a sword and a guitar…

HG couldn’t let what was happening continue to happen. Her heart hardly belonged to her anymore to begin with. She was getting pieces back bit by bit. It terrified her how willing she was to give it all away again to this girl. She shouldn’t do this, for so many reasons. She had an entire insane past that would need to be reckoned with before she could ever be ready to give herself over to Myka the way the girl deserved.

She deserved a whole heart, and Helena first had to learn how to give it to her, and then hope and pray she would accept it no matter how scuffed up it may be.

Helena’s inner turmoil was distracted as she realized the two suit clad people were walking in her direction. A part of her had noticed them talking to other beach goers, but she hadn’t given them a second thought until the dark skinned male set his sights on her.

“Excuse me, miss?” He called as he got the attention of his blonde partner.

Helena’s fight or flight response kicked in, though she couldn’t understand why. There was no perceivable threat to her. These agents, even in their sharp suits, were hardly people she couldn’t handle if she needed too. It didn’t help their image when they seemed to have trouble walking through the sand in their shoes. So Helena stayed still, putting on a polite face as they approached her.

“Hello,” She greeted lightly.

“My name is Agent Raymond and this is my partner,” he gestured to the blonde, who had a barely concealed scowl on her face, though HG could tell it had less to do with her and more to do with whatever situation they were in.

“How might I help you Agent?” Helena tilted her head to the side and hid her hands in the pouch on Myka’s jacket.

“Yes, can you take a look at this sketch, and tell me if you recognize this woman?” he handed her a copy of the sketch.

The Agents had made their way to Santa Barbra when MacPherson had gotten the hit. It had just popped up, and they hoped they could beat the artifact thief here, once and for all. So, before they go find the actual artifact, they were seeing if they could spot her in the throngs of vacationing college students on the beach.

Of course Helena recognized the woman in the sketch. She had spent the better part of the week memorizing every expression to cross that face. It was Myka Bering.

Luckily, Helena was quite skilled at hiding her emotions and manipulating her way out of any situation. So she played up on the fact that she kept catching the smile on the male agents face whenever he heard her accent.

“No, I am terribly sorry,” HG let herself frown and turned her eyes contrite as she passed the sketch back to the agent, “I’m afraid I am only here on holiday, I can’t say I’ve seen her, though I’ve only been here a few hours myself.” She lay her accent on thick.

“That’s too bad.” Raymond sighed.

“May I ask why you are looking for her? Is she dangerous?” Helena let a bit of the fear she was feeling slip into her tone, hoping it would be misconstrued as fear of the woman rather than for her.

“No,” the female agent smirked, “Nothing we can’t handle anyway.”

“You have nothing to worry about. She’s just gotten involved in something she shouldn’t have.” Raymond cut in, “Look, if you see her or hear anything weird while you’re on vacation here, call us.” He handed HG a simple white business card that had only a ten digit number on it as he winked.

Helena smiled and swallowed her disgust as she pocketed the card, “I will be sure to do that.” She assured them before turning and walking away, _When hell freezes over._

Panic filled her as she decided it was time to go home. This little adventure of theirs had finally reached its end.

* * *

After getting nowhere on the beach with the tourists, Agents Raymond and Sandra decided to find the artifact. It wasn’t that difficult, the boy who had it hadn’t done much to cover his tracks or hide his resentment for the places effected.

He was in school, which the Agents thought weird, but Leroy explained to them school during vacation was punishment for ditching too many classes.

“Where’s the artifact, Leroy?” Sandra demanded, skipping over all the bullshit they normally went through, “Where’s the pipe?”

Leroy’s face twisted into a grimace as he looked down at the table, tracing a pattern in the faux wood grain, “How did you know about the pipe? And what does the Secret Service want with it?”

‘That’s not important,” Sandra insisted, “Now just tell us where it is and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“It’s gone,” Leroy glared up at her.

“Gone?” Sandra growled.

“What do you mean gone?” Raymond put a warning hand on his partners shoulder.

“I mean two people calling themselves agents showed up at my house yesterday, knocked my ass out and stole it from me.” He glared at them.

Sandra and Raymond exchanged a look. So, the woman has already come and gone then?

“Tell me,” Raymond took out his sketch, “Was this woman there?”

Leroy looked at it and shook his head, “No, I’ve never seen her.”

The blonde agent groaned, “Who did you see, Leroy?”

“There was this smoking hot English chick and her partner.” The seventeen year old shook his head.

Sandra froze in the process of running a hand through her hair and turned and looked to her partner as realization dawned on them both. “Describe her.” Raymond ordered.

“I don’t know, man, five six maybe? Black hair, brown eyes… extremely hot…” Leroy sighed, “I wish it was her who wrestled me instead of that partner of hers.”

“What about a name? Did you get a name?” Sandra pushed.

“I can’t…” Leroy’s eyebrows mashed together, “I can’t remember… but I do know they called themselves _agent_.”

“Thank you Leroy,” Sandra stood, grabbing her partner by the arm and pulling him with her as they moved out of the office they had used.

“DAMN IT!” She shouted as soon as they were alone, “We let them slip through our fingers, not to mention let them know we were looking for them!”

They were driving back to the beach, fighting over who had to call MacPherson and let him know their mistake as Myka drove madly to the highway.

The atmosphere was tense.

When Myka woke to a cold and empty bed, she felt a physical ache somewhere behind her chest. She knew that Helena had been there, but had gotten up at some point and left her. It was ridiculous to hope to wake up to her laying with her. Helena always woke up before Myka, but after they spent the day having so much fun and the night talking nonsense, she had looked forward to waking up with her. She didn’t remember most of their conversation, but she knew it had been amazing just to listen to the sound of Helena’s voice bend and curve around words Myka had heard her whole life and yet never really appreciated.

She sat up quickly when her door flew open. She didn’t have time to think to cover her scantily clad body before she recognized the panic and fear in Helena’s eyes.

“What is it?” Myka breathed, noticing what Helena was wearing but not commenting. She liked the way HG looked wearing her jacket.

“We’ve got to go,” Helena looked at Myka’s sleepy confused face for a moment before realizing the girl’s state of undress and adverting her eyes quickly, “As soon as possible. Pack up all your things. I’ll go wake the others.”

She shut the door on Myka’s questions. She kicked the couch, causing Claudia to jerk awake and roll off of Steve, landing with a yelp. Steve sat up straight as if he had been electrocuted. HG felt bad, but she needed them to get out of there before those agents found Leroy Grey. She told them not to ask questions yet, to just grab all of their things and get to the car.

Pete, who had heard the commotion, stuck his head out of his door and asked what was going on.

“There are two angry looking agents looking for us, so I think it best we get out of Santa Barbra before they find us.” Helena quickly went back to her own room to pack, thankful that Myka had not been idle in her absence.

She was hopping around, one foot in a sneaker as she buttoned her pants, but her shirt left undone. It would have been highly distracting for Helena if she left her like that. That was the excuse she gave herself as she quickly strode to Myka and began to button the shirt up.

Myka blushed but didn’t comment, just fumbled with her belt as she shoved the next foot into the stray shoe. Helena tried to not let her fingers linger too long on Myka’s Sides as she straightened the shirt. When Claudia entered the room they jumped apart and continued gathering their clothes, toiletries, stray odds and ends including the curiosities they had gathered.

As they loaded up their luggage into the Suburban, Myka got into the driver’s seat without question. She was a better driver than Pete, but she normally let him drive anyway. But right now, they sensed they needed to get out quickly and efficiently.

Once they were on the freeway, Myka turned her face slightly to Helena in the passenger seat, “You want to explain what the hell happened?”

She meant to cause the sudden flurry of excitement they’d just gone through, but both heard the double meaning in it. What had happened last night? What was said? Why were you not there this morning?

Luckily Pete cut in and clarified, “Yeah, what about agents?”

“I went for a walk this morning, trying to rid myself of this hangover,” HG grimaced as she pinched the bridge of her nose, “And while I was on the beach, a man and a woman approached me. They said they were agents and were looking for someone. They held up a picture of Myka.”

Myka felt her heart thump loudly in her chest as her grip on the steering wheel tighten, “Me? Why are they looking for me?”

Helena shook her head, “They didn’t say. When I asked. They simply said you had gotten involved in something you shouldn’t have.”

“Is this because I attacked someone?” Myka was having trouble catching her breath, “Because we trespassed? Hacked police files? Breaking and entering? Threatened powerful people?”

HG put a hand on Myka’s thigh, “It’ll be alright, Myka, calm down.”

And despite the situation, Myka found herself calming under the touch.

“What’s the other possibility?” Myka asked, “I mean, we haven’t exactly been subtle in our actions, but no one has gotten hurt? And we covered our tracks, right Claudia?” She looked at the distracted redhead in the mirror.

“Hm?” She lifted her gaze, “Yeah, no digital footprints left behind, and they shouldn’t have any video surveillance.”

“Well, they only had a sketch of Myka, and they didn’t recognize me,” Helena shook her head, “So they are probably working on eyewitness reports. Most likely the skipper from _Check Mate,_ since you had the most direct contact with him when we made the retrieval.”

“So, it is about me then?” Myka paled once more, “I only defended myself, I didn’t hurt him that bad… and he killed somebody!”

“I don’t think it is just about you,” Pete spoke up, “What if there is some vague, menacing government agency after us because we are collecting the curiosities? I mean, think about it, what are the chances these things exist and the government hasn’t taken notice?”

“You read one too many comic books Pete.” Myka rolled her eyes.

 _But what if…?_ Each of them though for a long moment. What if they really had stumbled on to some secret government operation? Was that really such a far leap after they already accepted the existence of these strange objects to begin with?

“Either way,” Helena broke the silence after an hour had passed, each of them lost in their own thoughts, “I think it would be best if we hide the curiosities we have gathered and lay low for a while.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Myka nodded, “Just forget about this road trip for a little while.”

The three in the back nodded in agreement, each thinking of things they could forget about from this week while Helena looked conflicted once more as she pulled her hand back into her own lap. Myka had almost forgotten it had been resting on her lap and she suddenly missed the contact.

But, she figured, that was another thing they had time to deal with later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *If you spend the night drinking without pacing yourself or properly hydrating, your body will often awaken rather suddenly after a few hours of sleep as it detoxes. I can attest to this. It isn’t fun.


	20. Six Weeks

After a week full of thrills, adrenaline and life threatening situations, it felt really strange to go back to the real world. While the five curiosity hunters felt as if they had gone through some massive transformation, the rest of the world seemed contented to go on existing exactly the way it had before. Everyone around them was going on, living their lives as if the world was still the small relatively sane bubble it appeared to be just a few weeks ago. It left them wondering if they too looked as the rest of humanity did when they were clueless.

Despite their new perception of the world, the students had to return to the land of the blissfully ignorant. No matter the existential crises of the week, there were papers to write, lectures to attend, textbooks to be read, jobs that needed doing and the entirety of _real_ life to be dealt with. Not to mention the fact that they were supposed to be pretending to be _normal_ college students.

Their alibi for spring break, should anyone ask, was that they went to Colorado Springs for the week. It fell together when Myka returned home and learned that her parents had made the last minute decision to go visit Tracy in Paris for the week, and Pete’s mother and sister had gone to Connecticut to see about the American School for the Deaf. So there was no one who could contradict their story.

Claudia hacked several agencies until they had the proper digital and paper trail that all said the five of them had gone to Colorado and stayed at Myka’s parents’ place for the week. And they told each other the story over and over until even Steve was having trouble telling if they were lying or not.

As far as the world was concerned, it was as if their little road trip had never happened.

However, the five of them wouldn’t, or couldn’t, keep the charade up when it was only them. They could pretend their lives were the same when they knew the others felt similar to they did. Like the world was so much bigger than it had been before. Almost like they could believe in magic again.

They were a tight nit group, now. Claudia and HG were at the apartment nearly every night, and while there were subjects they didn’t broach, when it was only the five of them, there was a comfort in simply knowing that _could_ talk about the week they shared. They all grew closer to one another as the weeks passed.

Steve and Claudia spent an absurd amount of time around each other. They didn’t even have to talk when they hung out. Often, Claudia would just sit on her computer or tinker with some new gadget while Steve meditated or struggled through his linguistics work. It was a companionable silence. They had also talked each other’s ears off to no end when they managed to watch six seasons of Lost in six weeks on Netflix. No one understood how they could get so heated over a television show.

Claudia and Pete spent hours arguing over the stupidest things they could. Competing in a child-like manner over childish things. They had spent hours one day playing through Super Smash Brothers on the Nintendo 64. At one point HG and Myka had to split them up and force them off the game to calm down. And they bickered like siblings, but there was a playfulness to it. And Pete finally had someone he could talk to about the movies and TV shows he loved.

HG spent a lot of time with Steve ever since she found out he was Buddhist. She asked him questions about his faith, not in a mean way, just always intrigued by the things she didn’t know or understand. She even had him talk to her about meditating. Steve sensed that HG was holding onto a lot of anger and other dark emotions, so he was more than happy to help her.

Pete and HG’s relationship on the surface was painful to watch. The two seemed unable to stand each other most days. But that was only how they got along with each other. Seventy five percent of their time was spent engaged in a sarcastic repertoire and they spent the rest of their time in competition to see who could make Myka blush first with their double entendre and innuendos. They were actually quite fond of each other, and both secretly looked forward to the arguments they started with the other.

Claudia, now that she realized how good Myka was, often goaded the other girl into playing guitar and singing with her. Claudia was thinking of joining a band with the boy she was seeing, Dwayne, and liked the extra practice with Myka. That was her excuse anyway, she really just liked singing with her, and she knew Helena enjoyed it, since a majority of these little sessions took place in their dorm room.

Helena and Myka… In many ways, their relationship stayed the same as it was the week before the road trip, but it was also different.

They still had their daily coffee dates, but they had recently decided that they would start to read a book together. It had been difficult to find a book that neither had read before, but they finally settled on Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Myka had been apprehensive about the choice, having seen the movie adaption of the book a dozen times with Pete and finding herself unimpressed. But it turned out to be a very good choice, and it provided hours of conversation between the two bibliophiles.

When they were apart, they found it difficult to just be. Sometimes, while Myka was working at The Red Couch, Helena would stay longer at Leena’s just so she wouldn’t be able to mope around until Myka got off. Night was the worst, though. After spending a week sharing in each other’s warmth before bed, they found it increasingly difficult to sleep. Except, of course, on the nights when Claudia and Helena would stay late and just crash at the apartment. On those nights, Helena would always find a new way to “accidently” fall asleep in Myka’s bed. Though they didn’t touch one another as they had in nights past, they still slept easier knowing that the other woman was so close.

The biggest sign of trust that Helena had shown Myka was the day she brought her to the lab. Only Claudia and Helena had been in it until that point. Myka did not miss the significance, and it made her happy. That is where they stored the three curiosities they gathered over spring break. Claudia and HG had been studying them as they had the key, but found it was best if they only looked at one at a time, or else they reacted bizarrely.

It was here that Myka found Helena on the last day of the semester.

Finals had been a bitch, and Myka was worn to the bone. She decided to skip the summer courses and take a break for the break so she wouldn’t get burned out. She was hoping Helena didn’t have too busy a summer planned, she wanted to spend every moment possible with the inventor.

Myka had slowly realized over the course of the last six weeks that her feelings for HG had gone beyond friendship. She hadn’t known quite how to deal with the new found knowledge. It wasn’t that Helena was a woman. That never bothered Myka that she could remember. Though her high school crushes had always been male, she always found both girls and boys attractive. However, it wasn’t until Helena that she had never found a woman she would actually consider dating.

No, but there was two things that had Myka dragging her feet to try and push for a different kind of relationship with Helena. One of which was her utter lack of experience in the romantic department. Myka had exactly one relationship in her track record, and that was with Sam, which hadn’t exactly ended well, even when you didn’t consider his untimely death. They broke up because Myka had difficulty showing her emotions with him.

The second reason went hand and hand with the first. She knew that Helena was a bit more versed in the dating game. She knew Helena dated boys and girls, and she wasn’t sure which made her more nervous. But she felt like she was competing with all these people for Helena, who could have anyone she wanted.

So, for the last month and a half, Myka had allowed herself to be okay with them being just friends. But she wanted that to change, and she was going to try and change that tonight.

She took the odd route to Helena’s lab even though there were a dozen faster ways there. She had to avoid campus security, cameras, professors and students, though, so she didn’t fight it.

When she got there, Helena was standing in an iconic white lab coat, her hair pulled back in a messy bun and odd looking goggles covered her eyes. She appeared flustered as she stared at Anne Bonny’s Cutlass on a stand and Myka could choke back her giggle.

Helena turned as she lifted her eye protection to hang around her throat, “Myka,” she smiled, “What, pray tell, is so funny?”

Myka shook her head, “Not funny. You just look incredibly adorable right now in your lab coat.”

Helena hid her blush with a cheeky smile as she put her hands in her pockets, “I shall remember that in the future.”

“What are you doing down here anyway?” Myka questioned, procrastinating what she came here to do, “Everyone is getting ready to leave for the summer, ya know.” She moved to stand next to the scientist.

HG waved that off, “Not like I’ll be going anywhere, and I do hate good byes.” Myka nodded in agreement, “Anyway, would you like to see what I’ve found?”

Myka nodded, needing a distraction from her own thoughts.

“This cutlass, even though it’s properties are not electrical,” Helena huffed, “Give off the same levels of energy as the key, which makes no sense. How fair is it that these objects do not have to play by the rules and yet we must?”

Myka shrugged, “Maybe we should change the rules.”

Helena smiled at her brightly. Myka, who was once such a stickler for rules and procedure, was telling Helena that sometimes the rules needed to be ignored or manipulated. Hell had surely dropped a few degrees.

“I suppose,” Helena couldn’t take her eyes from Myka, “We are living a world of endless wonder it would seem. Rules have no place here.”

Myka blushed at some thought Helena was suddenly aching to know, but the taller woman pulled back from their proximity and put a hand on the back of her neck, a nervous gesture Helena had begun noticing.

“Anyway, I came to ask if you were coming over tonight,” Myka was suddenly very nervous, “It’s the end of the semester, Pete managed to pass all his classes, and he wanted to have a get together.”

“Really, Myka?” Helena chuckled, “A party? I’m not so sure, those don’t tend to go so well for us.” She thought back to the dorm party and the one that followed a week later. Both had ended with Helena leading an inebriated Myka to a bed, and after the last time they had shared a bed drunk together, she wasn’t sure she could hold back any longer on the want that only seemed to grow.

“No,” Myka said quickly, “Not a party. Just the five of us some pizza and the game console. Pete wanted me to tell you something about a Mario Kart rematch?” Myka saw the competitive spark light in her eyes at the mention of the game that always ended with Pete and HG not talking to one another and Claudia and Pete shooting each other glares. There were no friends in Mario Kart apparently.

“So, will you be there?” Myka asked hopefully.

As if Helena could say no, “Of course.” It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t have come over that night with or without an invitation. It became part of a routine since the apartment was starting to feel more like home than her dorm ever did.

“Aces.” Myka bounced on her toes, suddenly excited.

Helena smiled at hearing her term fall so easily from Myka’s lips. They really had been spending a lot of time together, picking up on each other’s slang and terms.

“I’ll see you tonight then,” Myka waved shyly as she backed towards the door.

Helena felt butterflies and knew that if she wanted to make her move on Myka, it would have to be tonight. If Myka was planning on leaving for the summer, she couldn’t let her go without her knowing how Helena felt.

They spent the remainder of their day apart watching the clock, counting the minutes, the seconds, until they would see each other again. Of course Helena couldn’t focus on the curiosity she pulled out, so she put it back and skipped off to her dorm.

She fidgeted at her desk. Fixed her hair and make up a thousand times. Put on more comfortable clothes, since she didn’t plan on returning to the dorm until tomorrow. Practiced what she would tell Myka in the mirror. Called herself an idiot more times than she could count. So when Claudia finally got there after finishing her last final, she was pushing the redhead to hurry up and ready herself to leave for the night.

Myka was in no better shape. She cleaned her room five times, showered, brushed her teeth vigorously, and changed what she was wearing several times. Steve noticed her excited energy but didn’t comment. Myka, too practiced what she was going to say before rolling her eyes at her reflection and falling face down into her bed.

The night was sure to be interesting.

 


	21. Say Something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter of AMDARS. It’s been a blasty blast you guys, I love you all. I have more author’s notes, but I’ll put them at the bottom, see ya there.

“Do you have a key to our apartment?” Steve called without looking away from the television screen when he heard Claudia’s boots stop across the linoleum floor and the door click shut.

“No, I don’t need one.” Claudia laughed as she moved through the kitchen, looking for popcorn, “If I had a key it wouldn’t be a challenge, and my lock picking skills would go to waste.”

“Hello, Steven.” Helena greeted fondly as she leaned over the back of the couch. Just looking around she could tell Myka had been hard at work cleaning the apartment, something she thought the other girl had stopped doing whenever she and Claudia visited. Something must’ve triggered it once more.

“Well, well, well,” Pete’s voice said from the hall, “If it isn’t HG _Well_ s.” He smirked.

“You’re a riot, Pete, really,” HG rolled her eyes, “I’m laughing so hard right now, can’t you tell?”

“Snark will not help you beat me at Mario Kart,” He warned as he moved around the couch to set up the controllers.

“As if I need help to beat you!” Helena barked as she took her normal spot on the love seat.

Helena played with the blue remote while Pete had the yellow, Claudia the purple and Steve the grey. Myka never played, she was more than happy watching them and listening to their banter.

They were already engaged into their first game when Myka emerged from her room. She smiled at how competitive they were getting already. Pete was leaning so far forward, Steve and Claudia were shoving each other and HG had her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth as she tilted her whole body to the left as her character took a sharp turn.

She crawled over the back of the love seat to sit in her usual spot beside Helena, “Twenty bucks on the Brit.” She declared, and HG shot her a smile.

Helena won by a slim margin the first round, even though she had been far behind before Myka joined them, “It seems you are my good luck charm, darling.”

“I guess I’m stuck sitting next to you for the rest of the night then, huh?” Myka blushed as their eyes met and found they were closer than she thought.

Helena couldn’t resist a wink and Myka’s cheeks darkened. The next round started and Helena released the American from her entrancing gaze. Myka let out the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding and tried to focus on the game and not on the excitement building in her chest.

Helena won the next three rounds, each time by a larger and larger degree, until Myka got up to pay the pizza guy who they knew on a first name bases now that they ordered in so much.

“Thanks, Todd,” she smiled, “Want to come in for a bit?”

She knew that the pizza delivery boy had a bit of a crush on Claudia, and thought he was nice enough. Claudia was sort of seeing Dwayne, but that didn’t stop her from blushing and usually rushing to pay for the pizza when it was delivered.

Todd shook his head, “Not tonight, Myka, but thanks. Tell Claudia I said hey.” He smiled and waved good bye.

“Bloody hell!” Helena cursed loudly, “You and those damn banana peels, Lattimer, I swear!”

Pete was laughing maniacally as he pulled into first at the last minute. Perhaps HG had been on to something when she called Myka her lucky charm. But when the smell of pizza reached Pete, the game was abandoned so he could stuff his face. They laughed as they ate and spoke of switching to Super Smash Brothers, that’s when Helena’s phone rang.

She appeared confused as she looked around before reaching into her pocket, everyone she normally talked to on a regular basis was standing around her now. But when she looked down at the screen she sighed and asked we give her a moment to answer it.

“Hello?” she asked as she walked into Myka’s room and closed the door softly behind her.

She was hardly listening to Charles, her older brother, speak as she walked around Myka’s room. But he quickly grabbed her attention and she found herself sitting heavily on the bed.

 _This is it,_ Myka told herself as the other three turned back to the Nintendo, _It’s now or never. She’s in your room, alone, make your move._ It took about five minutes of pep talk for Myka to work up the courage to walk into her own room.

Helena was standing at her desk, hand gripping her own hair in a ponytail, a nervous habit Myka had noticed in the girl. She was staring at a picture Myka had added to the desk. It was one Claudia had taken of Myka and HG laughing on the beach in Santa Barbara. It was her favorite because of how happy Helena looked in it.

“Can I talk to you?” Myka’s voice betrayed her edginess, and she closed the door behind her, not wanting an audience.

Helena turned to look at Myka, an unreadable look in her eye.

The brunette slowly moved to stand in front of Helena, always feeling the need to be closer to her. But she lost her words.

“I need to speak with you as well.” Helena said to the silence, her voice even, betraying none of her inner turmoil.

“Oh, okay.” Myka nodded, watching the other woman’s lips move, “You go first.”

There was an extended moment of silence as each woman fought the urge to close the gap between their lips. This was it. This was the moment it had all been leading up to, Myka was sure.

“I have to return home,” Helena said suddenly, closing her eyes against Myka’s reaction.

“What?” Myka pulled back, “Now? Why? I thought you and Claudia were just going to stay over here tonight…?”

Myka trailed off as the look of despair and pity grew in HG’s eyes. That’s when it clicked. Helena wasn’t talking about the dormitories, and she wasn’t talking about tonight. She was talking about _home_ , as in London.

“My family has called for me to return for the summer,” Helena explained once she read the realization dawning across her friend’s face, “I have prior… commitments that must be attended to.”

“Prior commitments?” Myka asked, though she really didn’t want to know the answer.

What was Helena to do? How could she explain so much of her past with so little time left to spend here? If she took into account what her brother told her, she needed to be on a plane by tomorrow afternoon. This was going to be painful all around, and she loathed herself for what must be done, because she really couldn’t be the cause of Myka’s pain, but she had no choice. She could hurt her once, this one time and be done with it. Or she could drag it out for months.

Helena took a breath, her decision having been made. She could only hope Myka would forgive her one day. That she would move on and forget her. That HG’s presence in her life hadn’t stopped her from achieving all the happiness she deserved.

“I had a fiancé in London before I left,” she kept her face neutral as she gauged Myka’s reaction. The shock and hurt were evident for a split second before her face shut down, “There are some things he and I must work out, as well as with our families. Our engagement had been put on hold, but now it is something that requires addressing.”

Myka felt like she was going to throw up. She had never felt so stupid in her life. Of course. Of course someone as beautiful and intelligent as Helena was spoken for. Myka had never stood a chance, and the realization of that fact made her heart feel as if it were being crushed under the weight of every insecurity she thought she had shed over the last month with Helena.

She felt stupid and angry. She wanted to scream and cry. She wanted to demand that Helena explain herself. Why hadn’t she told Myka she was engaged to be married? Why had she gone on flirting with Myka? How dare she make Myka feel all those things for her and just when she had grown comfortable to let her walls down, to finally let someone in, rip the rug right out from beneath her feet?

But Myka’s rationalistic side kicked in as she built the wall back up around her heart brick by brick. Helena owed her nothing, least of all an explanation. Another brick. She never gave Myka reason to believe they were anything other than friends. Another brick. They’d only known each other for eight weeks. Another brick. Helena deserved more than Myka had to offer. Another brick.

This all happened over the span of three seconds, and HG watched it happen. The look in Myka’s eyes as they went from warm summer green to hard, cold jade in a matter of two heart beats twisted the knife further into her chest.

“When do you leave?” Myka’s voice did not betray her, it came across as polite and interested and was as fake sounding in Helena’s ears as the laugh track of the bad sitcoms Claudia enjoyed.

“I need to book a flight for tomorrow.” Helena worked to keep her tone even, regretful but not ever so. Coming across as asking for Myka’s understanding without actually requiring it, “I need to be back in London as soon as possible.”

“Then you and Claudia should head back to your dorm,” Myka said as she walked backwards away from HG, “So you can pack up and leave, wouldn’t want your fiancé to be kept waiting.”

“Myka,” Helena reached out, but the other woman was already gone. She heard low talking in the living room, but couldn’t quite make out the words.

She heard a door open, then shut quickly, somebody, Pete it sounded like, calling after Myka who had already left.

Claudia poked her head around the corner of the threshold, looking to her roommate, eyes swimming in unshed tears, “Myka said you needed to go home? Something about going back to London?”

“Don’t worry,” HG finally moved, wrapping her arm around Claudia’s shoulder, “I’ll be back in the autumn. You can’t get rid of me this easily, and besides, I’ve not finished my degree. I’m not one to give up on something I’ve worked for that easily.”

Claudia’s smile was tinged with sadness as she allowed HG to lead them to the car.

 They spoke little as Helena moved around their room, packing things away while purposely leaving things for Claudia to have. It all made HG feel sick to her stomach, because she was leaving behind the thing she most wished she could take with her.

She was ready to leave at ten the next morning, though her flight wasn’t until four, she knew better to be late arriving at the airport. She had taken a Taxi while the redhead was still asleep, keys to her car left with a post it note for Claudia reading _take care of it until I return_. She knew the younger girl coveted her the car, and it wasn’t like HG would have much use of it for the next three months. She also left her with instructions to lock up the lab.

It was all a very lonely affair, and she wished more than once that a certain curly haired book worm was there. But she was resigned to the fact that she had successfully pushed her away for the time being.

What she didn’t know was her roommate had called Myka.

Myka had spent the night brooding and wallowing in self-pity. But she also felt panic when the new day began and she realized what was happening. So when Claudia called and told her HG would be on a plane at 4, she yelled at Pete until he agreed to drive her to the airport.

He was weary. He loved Myka and could see how much she cared for Helena. He could also see how much her leaving was hurting his best friend, and he wasn’t sure if taking her to the airport to say good bye would hurt or help.

Pete barely had time to stop the car before Myka rushed out and started running, pushing past people until she got to the proper gate and saw a familiar head of raven black hair.

“Helena!” she called, her feet hitting the linoleum floor of the airport too rapidly for some of the employees to care for, but it was a small local airport so no one bothered to stop her, “Helena!”

“Myka?” HG turned to see her frazzled looking friend quickly approaching.

“I wanted to see you off.” Myka tried to catch her breath as HG pulled her in to a tight embrace.

Each had been so worried that the previous night would be the last they saw of each other, and neither could stand it. They wanted one last good memory, a smile, a hug, which they could hold on to and look back on.

“How do you say good bye to the one person who knows you best?” Helena asked as she buried her face into the other woman’s unruly curls, trying to memorize the scent of her shampoo.

“I wish I knew.” Myka swallowed tears.

She obviously didn’t know Helena as well as she thought she did. But HG had seen parts of Myka’s heart she guarded from everyone else. And now it was strange for Myka to think that there was this person who was going to be out there, no longer in her life, but who held all these facts about Myka. It felt almost like a betrayal.

Helena was leaving. What could Myka do to stop her? Fall on her knees and beg her to stay? Try and explain to her the confusing tidal wave of feelings the other woman caused in her? What good would it do to tell her that thoughts of her smile, memories of her laugh, the ghost of her touch kept Myka feeling warm inside long after they were apart?

“I will be back you know.” Helena insisted, as she held the taller woman tighter, “It’s only for the summer.”

Myka wanted to believe that, but the hurt she was feeling swallowed the hope, leaving no trace of it left behind. Surely Helena had much better things she could do with her time that didn’t include a nerd she solved puzzles with over spring break. Myka always knew Helena Wells was too good to be true.

Helena pulled back and reached into her shirt. At the end of a long silver chain dangled a purple key. Myka recognized it instantly. It was the key from the library, Benjamin Franklin’s key, their first case, the one that brought them together. It was coated in the purple rubber stuff that Helena had invented to keep it from working. She had told them she hid it away, but really had kept it around her neck this whole time.

HG put the chain around Myka’s neck, brushing her brown curls behind her ear after it settled on her chest.

“You kept it.” Myka pointed out, not taking her eyes off the dark abyss that Helena’s normal sparking eyes had transformed into.

“Of course,” Helena shrugged, biting her lip and wondering how much she should say, “Though that blasted thing brought so much insanity into my life, it also brought one of the things I care most about in my life.”

Myka was stunned, unable to respond, so Helena just pulled her in for another tight hug, enjoying the warmth that the other woman’s arms brought that had nothing to do with body heat.

Unshed tears rested on the brim of her eyes as they pulled away, her flight being called to board, neither woman speaking a word. It wouldn’t be until later that Myka realized they never actually said goodbye.

Myka watched Helena walk away. She continued to stay standing there long after she could no longer be seen. She didn’t move again until the plane had departed. Pete was there suddenly, wrapping an arm around his shaking friend. He let the tears stain his shirt as he pulled her into the falling night, “Come on, Mykes. Let’s go home.”

But memories of Helena tainted the walls of the apartment, and it was only two days before they left it behind. Pete taking Myka back to Colorado Springs while Steve decided his family could adopt Claudia for one summer. They all felt the absence of one another, none more so than Helena, though, who sat sobbing by herself on the long plane ride back to London, and the hollow days that followed.

The only thing that made it all worth it was being able to hold her daughter in her arms once more.

* * *

James MacPherson sat at a computer in his office at the warehouse, typing in to the search field Bering and Sons Book Store. A slow smile creeping across his face as he got a hit. A photo of the store based in Colorado had a gangly awkward looking teenager, a younger version of the woman in the sketch.

“Found you,” he smirked, “Myka Bering, are you stealing artifacts to sell them or use them?” He then proceeded to weigh his options. The young woman was dangerous to his opertation, unless he recruited her…

* * *

“What do you think about recruiting them?” Mrs. Fredric’s voice startled Artie from where he sat at his computer, staring at the transcripts to the five students on the screen.

He knew about their trip up and down California collecting artifacts, Claudia Donavan was good, but she never tried hiding something from someone like Arthur Neilson. He didn’t know what artifacts the little team had collected, he couldn’t seem to find where they were keeping them. But they didn’t seem to be using or selling them, so he wasn’t overly worried yet.

They were so young, their lives barely starting, but it was clear to Artie they didn’t really have a choice. They had discovered the world full of artifacts most people never noticed. They had collected four artifacts together after they’d known each other little over a week. They worked amazingly as a team.

Steven Jinks, the human lie detector and the cool head of the group.

Claudia Donavan, tech savvy genius who had developed a system to track possible artifact cases in one week… it took Artie months to create something similar.

Peter Lattimer, son of a regent, scary accurate intuition willing to take that leap of faith.

Myka Bering, could connect the dots faster than Artie had seen any agent do before, her memory set her apart from people who would have been at her caliber, she could see the big picture.

Helena Wells, inventor extraordinaire, Myka and Claudia wrapped into one, but she was a wild card. Unpredictable. The only one who seemed able to control her was Myka. And now…

“I don’t know what I think of them yet.” Artie admitted, “Together, they could be the best team the Warehouse has ever had. But they are so young…”

“We’ll keep an eye on them.” Mrs. Fredric said, omnipotently.

“They’ve scattered, though,” Artie turned to her, “Lattimer and Bering went back to Colorado Springs, Jinks and Donavan went to New Jersey, and Wells has returned to London.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Arthur,” Mrs. Fredric’s turned away from the retired agent, “They’ll be back. The Warehouse hardly ever lets go of what it wants.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "On a scale of one to ten how much do you hate me? The whole airport scene was written as I listened to Say Something by Great Big World on repeat, which is what I named the chapter for. It made me have OTP feels, so blame that song not me. Helena had to leave, for character and story development, I knew that, I didn’t know this was where I was going to take a break though…  
> I really do love you guys and all your input and kind words and constructive criticism, but I must take a hiatus. My significant other is jealous of the amount of time I put into this fic with all the research and actual writing. I will be back in a few weeks with the first chapter of part two, though I don’t know what it’ll be called yet, but the summary will have it labeled as AMDARS pt2. I already have notes and stuff drawn up for it, so it won’t be too long, I promise.  
> Feel free to bug me on my tumblr if you think I’m taking too long, or you just want to stalk me. Whatever floats your boat. Writing-myself.tumblr.com (personal) itsallaboutmurder.tumblr.com (fandomania)  
> Keep the faith  
> -W"
> 
>  
> 
> That was the note at the bottom when i originally posted this on FF, I made them wait like a week before i caved, you don't have to wait for the next part, just go click it. It's called Library of Crazy


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